Removing Lead Service Lines in North Jersey

PVWC and CDM Smith’s lead in drinking water team took a program­matic approach to developing its lead service line replacement program (LSLRP). Seamless coor­di­na­tion between the utility, consultants, contractors, and water customers has been a crucial part of this program’s success. To deliver this community-based project built on trust and safety, the team has focused on reaching, educating and engaging water customers.  

Tackling material inves­ti­ga­tion and outreach to 11,000 customers 

PVWC needed to resolve 11,000 customer records that were missing vital information, and they engaged CDM Smith’s experts to help by performing field veri­fi­ca­tions and desktop analysis. During this process, the team was able to eliminate duplicate entries, get rid of fire service records from the lead service line (LSL) inventory, and obtain sub-centimeter survey points of the curb stop and point-of-entry into the buildings. “Canvassers worked with our GIS team to get the information we needed, including home addresses with service lines marked as ‘unknown’ material in PVWC’s records. Our initial objective was, okay, we’re going to get this canvassing team out there and we’re going to visit these homes as many times as we need to turn the  ‘unknowns’ into ‘knowns’,” says Sean Moore, construc­tion repre­sen­ta­tive.  

Dima Ismail, fellow construc­tion repre­sen­ta­tive, adds, “We started a new cluster inves­ti­ga­tion to cross reference the data we have with the service lines that exist. In the field, we found some different or additional service lines than what the records were telling us, so it was key to capture all of this information accurately so our crews know where to start.” 

Engaging with the public every step of the way

CDM Smith’s public commu­ni­ca­tions experts are actively handling the outreach portion of this program, creating custom educational materials like one-page handouts, postcards, door hangers, and press notices. “It’s our goal to explain the health benefits and the construc­tion process in nontech­ni­cal language so the homeowner knows exactly what to expect. We don’t want any surprises about the work that’s taking place,” explains Rina Dalal , lead in drinking water commu­ni­ca­tions expert. “Effective commu­ni­ca­tion essentially keeps the utility’s brand and reputation intact.” 

“In a broader sense, we think about what we need to do to get community buy-in. It’s about getting the right information and the right materials together, then under­stand­ing what languages they need to be translated to,” Dalal adds. “Our team conducted a demographic analysis to assess the most common languages spoken in the community. In this case, it was English, Spanish, Arabic and Bengali.”

The team is managing a door-to-door campaign and working with profes­sional canvassers to encourage residents to sign up for the program. The significant number of Spanish speakers motivated PVWC to engage local, Spanish speaking staff to support outreach efforts. “The canvassers live in the locations where the replace­ments are happening—they’re familiar with the area, they know how to get around, and they know the right people to talk to. It’s a very boots-on-the-ground effort, so that community knowledge was important for PVWC,” says Moore. 

Leveraging data tracking dashboards and visu­al­iza­tion tools

Building out a strong database and management system has been paramount to PVWC’s success. Leveraging digital platforms like ArcGIS and Kahua, the team built a digital database that PVWC can use now and into the future to track each step of the LSLRP. All replace­ments under this project are tracked using ArcGIS  with data visu­al­iza­tion using Power BI.

A public-facing website, below, helps customers quickly determine if they have a lead or galvanized steel service line, and what actions to take if they need a replacement. “This is my favorite tool; you can click on a single circle and discover so much information about a home,” explains Dalal. “For instance, we can inform the homeowner what material their service line is made of on the partial and private side, their program status, and what they can prepare for after construc­tion. It’s a whole commu­ni­ca­tion spectrum for customers and the utility.”

Deploying program and construc­tion management pros

“On the construc­tion side, there’s about five different crews working a day, spread through Clifton, Passaic, Paterson, and Prospect Park. Four crews are handling the replace­ments, and then one more crew handles restoration of the area around the replacement. This way, we stay on top of everything as the replace­ments are finished,” Ismail says.

PVWC's construc­tion contract is focusing on replacing 6,500 lead services through funding from the New Jersey Infra­struc­ture Bank (NJIB), which is New Jersey’s State Revolving Fund (SRF). The CDM Smith team is managing all NJIB reporting documents, including plans for using socially and econom­i­cally disad­van­taged (SED) resources, monthly reports, payment submissions for reim­burse­ment, and closing docu­men­ta­tion. 

“I want to commend the work PVWC does on their end. This is a huge project with over 6,500 homes—that’s like 6,500 separate projects that must be managed,” Dalal says. “They do a great job of receiving customer questions and getting them resolved quickly. The faster we’re able to address those customer concerns, the faster we’re able to build public trust and the faster we can get the lead out.”