Newark’s Lead Service Line Replacement Program Replaces 10,000 Lines in 13 Months

NEWARK, N.J. —The City of Newark’s Lead Service Line Replacement (LSLR) Program has success­fully replaced 10,000 lead service lines. The goal of the $120 million LSLR program is to remove the 18,000+ lead service lines throughout the city, replacing them with copper pipes to ensure clean, safe and reliable drinking water at no cost to all Newark residents. The original eight-year program began in March 2019 and was accelerated in September 2019 to be completed within 24 to 30-months. 

At the start of the LSLR Program, the project team was replacing lines in 10-15 homes a day on a voluntary basis at a direct cost to the customers. In September 2019, Newark passed ordinances to make the program free and mandatory to all residents with a lead service line. By January 2020, the team was replacing lines on an average of 100 homes per day. Work related to the LSLR program is considered essential and with additional COVID-19 precautions, the project team continues to replace service lines on an average of 30-40 homes a day. 

“This program involves careful coor­di­na­tion and frequent commu­ni­ca­tion between CDM Smith and the city, contractors, water utility department, and residents,” said Brian Kearney, CDM Smith’s project manager. “To say this is one large effort is an under­state­ment, because each replacement is a big project to the individual residents. Instead, we look at this milestone as having success­fully completed 10,000 individual projects.”

“I’m proud of what our city is accom­plish­ing with the Lead Service Line Replacement Program,” said Kareem Adeem, Director of Newark’s Department of Water and Sewer. “With this project, we are improving the quality of the drinking water for our residents living in older homes with lead service lines. The City of Newark’s progress helps to ensure residents feel safe when they are drinking water from their tap.”  

For additional information, please visit the city's project website: www.newarklead­ser­vice­line.com.  

CDM Smith provides lasting and integrated solutions in water, environment, trans­porta­tion, energy and facilities to public and private clients worldwide. As a full-service engineering and construc­tion firm, we deliver exceptional client service, quality results and enduring value across the entire project life cycle.

CDM Smith provides lasting and integrated solutions in water, environment, trans­porta­tion, energy and facilities to public and private clients worldwide. As a full-service engineering and construc­tion firm, we deliver exceptional client service, quality results and enduring value across the entire project life cycle.