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PARKERSBURG -- The Parkersburg Utility Board on Tuesday approved an agreement to work with a company to put together an inventory of the materials used in the city's waterlines.
The agreement is with 120Water of Zionsville, Ind., to work with the board to do the inventory as part of the regulatory revision to the federal Lead and Copper Rule that was finalized in January 2021.
Due to the problems with lead water lines experienced in Flint, Mich., a few years ago, communities across the country have to do regular samples from certain places within their service area to test for lead and copper, said Eric Bennett, General Manager for the Parkersburg Utility Board.
Parkersburg has been doing testing every three years.
"We have never had a hit as we are always in the specified range or below it," Bennett said. "We now have to catalog the inventory of all the service lines."
Officials have a good idea where some old lead lines may be, but records of exactly where those lines were originally laid were either lost over the passage of time or didn't exist to begin with, Bennett said.
An inventory will also be done of galvanized steel pipes, many of which were installed around the area up until the 1950s. If those lines are attached to lead pipes they will be considered lead pipes in the inventory due to the materials built up in the pipes.
Once they have the line inventory, they will have the means to do a lead line replacement program, officials said.
The city has been replacing lead lines as they have been found. The city does not replace lines in individual homes or properties as that is the property owner's responsibility.
"We go as far as the property line which covers our responsibility," Bennett said. "We have never found a lead line on the customer's side. We have found galvanized lines."
Some lead lines that might have gone to buildings that were torn down would have been shut off and currently may not have water moving through them.
Part of the work with 120Water will help inform homeowners if there are any lead or galvanized lines around their homes.
Homeowners will be sent surveys and asked to take pictures of their pipes to be sent in so data can be built to try to identify what kind of lines are where.
120Water would use the data to do predictive modeling to identify areas the PUB might need to look at in terms of possible line replacements. Crews would do spot digs to see if there was anything that needed replaced.
Board members said many people don't know what kind of lines they have.
Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce said there would have to be ways to inform the public about what is happening through social media and other means as well as plans to hold some public meetings to explain the process.
"This is going to be a lot for the customers to understand, recognize and participate in," he said.
120Water is a technical services company that helps state agencies, schools and public utilities plan, manage and effectively communicate the results of water sampling programs, according to a letter from the company outlining their services.
The company highlighted its cloud-based technology platform and complementary services to manage the full lifecycle of water testing programs at the point of use, the letter said.
"This is what they do," Bennett said, adding the company is doing this work nationwide. The company has also been doing work with the cities of Wheeling and Clarksburg in West Virginia, he added.
The company has computer systems, programs and personnel to do this work, Bennett said, adding if the PUB tried to do it, they would have to hire someone to do it.
"It is a lot cheaper for us to pay someone who already has the program down pat," he said.
The PUB will be paying an annual subscription of $27,404 to 120Water, Bennett said. He believes they would be using the system for at least two years.
The funding is coming through grants from $28 million the state received in federal infrastructure money, officials said.
The agreement will still have to be approved by Parkersburg City Council.
In other business, the board passed the 2022-23 budget. The budget is expected to bring in $16.3 million in revenue.