Survey: 23 Colorado cities must replace at least 20,000 lead pipes that could taint drinking water

A new statewide survey shows that 23 Colorado cities have aging lead water delivery pipes, roughly 20,000 of them, that could potentially taint drinking water. 

Under federal rules, those cities must identify all contaminated pipes and replace them by 2037, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

But the initial survey, completed in October, also found that 170,000 additional water lines still need to be examined. Cities that have untested water delivery pipes are notifying customers of the risk and have November of next year to finish the identification process, according to Seth Clayton, executive director of Pueblo Water.

This Fresh Water News story is a collaboration between The Colorado Sun and Water Education Colorado. It also appears at wateredco.org/fresh-water-news.

“It took a significant effort to get the initial inventory completed,” Clayton said, “and then we sent out 22,000 letters to customers saying their service line type is unknown and could be lead. That sparks a bit of panic because of the misinformation out there. But call volumes and our customer service time is starting to decrease.”

The city of Lafayette banned lead pipes in 1959, according to Melanie Asquith, the city’s principal utility engineer. As part of the new survey, it has identified just one partial pipe that contains lead. Still the city is notifying 770 customers who have unknown line types and plans to begin testing them early next year.

Lead water lines were commonly used up until the 1980s, when they were banned by the EPA. Though water entering the pipes may be clean, erosion of the aging lines causes lead to seep into the water. No levels of lead are considered safe for children and can cause serious health problems in adults, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

To help finance the testing and replacement work, this year the EPA awarded the state $32.8 million. It is part of a $2.6 billion national replacement initiative funded through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Even before the new mandate to replace all lead lines, the EPA ordered cities such as Denver  to begin replacement programs because some lead had been detected in water delivered to homes, violating federal standards at the time. Denver Water has removed 30,000 lines, with another 30,000 to go, according to agency spokesman Todd Hartman.

Other cities that have never had lead levels that exceed federal standards began replacing lead lines years ago as part of routine maintenance and leak repair programs,  according to Mark Ritterbush, Grand Junction’s water services manager.

“We’ve been chipping away at it overtime because we knew the EPA was going to do this. There’ve been rumblings for at least a decade,” Ritterbush said.

Still, he said, the city has spent $1 million to comply with the lead pipe rules and meet the survey deadline. “We had a good foundation. But because we’re on the clock, it’s a lot to handle.”

23 Colorado utilities and water systems with at least one confirmed lead water pipe: Aurora, Bristol Water and Sanitation District, Denver Water, Eckley, Englewood, Flagler, Fort Morgan, Georgetown, Golden, Grand Junction, Greeley, Lafayette, Limon, Lost Valley Ranch Corp., Loveland, Manitou Springs, Morgan County Quality Water District, Parkville Water District, Pueblo Board of Water Works, Silver Plume, Steamboat Springs, Sterling, Yampa