Lead Service Line

Lead Service Line (LSL) Survey

The increasing national spotlight on lead in drinking water is highlighted by the major incident in Flint, Michigan and the American Water Works Association’s April 2016 Journal-AWWA. These events, along with the 2018 American Water Infrastructure Act’s requirement for a new Needs Survey which includes a cost assessment for LSL replacement, are refocusing the water industry’s attention to the health risks associated with lead exposure. Even low levels of exposure have been linked to severe health problems including learning disabilities, shorter stature, and impaired hearing to name a few. Children and pregnant women are particularly at risk. Purveyors of water systems play a critical role in identifying LSL occurrence and helping develop the long-term strategy for LSL replacement. Challenges to LSL identification and replacement in Hawaii are listed below:

  • Identifying LSL Occurrence: Because the location of most LSLs is unknown, identifying areas where they most likely exist is a major challenge.
  • Preparing an Inventory of LSLs: LSL inventories compile existing data from many historic and living sources. Some of these sources include installation records, service cards/tickets, construction records, plumbing permits, field experience and reports, parcel records, distribution maps, and historical and current Capital Improvement Plans (CIP).
  • Avoiding partial LSL Replacement: Because of the known increase in risk related to partial LSL replacement, a coordinated and community-based approach that includes the building occupants and property owners should be developed.

Your response will provide the initial data required to move forward with the analysis of LSL occurrence statewide in Hawaii. For this purpose, the Safe Drinking Water Branch has prepared the “Hawaii Statewide Service Line Survey” to obtain estimates of LSL occurrence in Hawaii’s many Public Water Systems and to further assess to what extent LSLs are a problem in Hawaii.

In order to protect the public’s health, it is imperative that we work together to identify and develop a multi-stakeholder driven LSL replacement strategy tailored to the conditions in Hawaii. Please take time to complete the FillableLeadServiceLineSurvey.20190707 as thoroughly and accurately as possible. Return your completed survey to the email or mail address at the end of the survey by Friday, August 30, 2019.

For more information on lead service lines, please see the following link: https://www.lslr-collaborative.org/

Last Update: 09 July 2019