120Water’s Digital Water Platform Keeps Utilities Compliant Amidst Massive Lead & Copper Rule Revisions

ZIONSVILLE, Ind., Jan. 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Major regulatory changes to the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR)--the first in nearly 30 years--has created an abundance of challenges for state agencies and water systems as they must take on more than ever in order to keep the public safe from drinking water in lead.

The revised Rule has stringent new requirements for water systems including publicly available lead service line inventories, increased testing, better reporting, faster communication to affected residents, and the replacement of lead service lines.

“With the revised Rule passing at the end of 2020, water systems must take action now in order to adopt the revisions with minimal disruption,” said Megan Glover, CEO of 120Water. “Due to resource and budget constraints, most drinking water providers are not equipped to meet even the most basic aspects of the mandates.”

As such, water professionals are turning to comprehensive digital water solutions, such as 120Water, to automate these complex programs and to remain compliant with the revised LCR.

For example, the city of Newark, NJ, uses the 120Water platform to manage resident communication around its lead service line replacement program, and to automate post-replacement testing to validate that drinking water is lead free.

Under the revised LCR, utilities will be responsible for executing a variety of water sampling kits--including LCR residential monitoring, LSL sampling, facilities sampling, and post LSL replacement sampling--in addition to providing pitcher filter kits for affected locations.

The 120Water platform automates distribution of test kits to residents with simple directions to fill the bottle and return in the mail. Samples are analyzed at a lab and results are loaded into the 120Water software. Newark officials are able to track every step of the process to understand where kits have been sent, which have been returned, and what the results are showing in terms of lead contamination.

“Newark’s efforts to engage the community in water quality issues can serve as a blueprint for other cities or water systems striving to stay compliant with the new rules and run successful programs,” said Glover.

Using the 120Water solution, the City of Asheville, NC, is taking proactive steps to meet three key mandates of the revised rule: the creation of a Lead Service Line Inventory, lead testing in schools and daycares, and LCR tier sampling. 120Water’s Lead Service Line Probability Finder integrates with Asheville’s other technology systems, using predictive modeling to help them identify and track lead materials in their community.

120Water is streamlining Asheville’s 2021 compliance event through centralized data management, collection, and workflows. By automating sample kit delivery, Asheville can be sure that samples are collected efficiently, and the data gathered is in one central location.

“In addition to helping utilities run their compliance events more efficiently, 120Water already has vast experience in school sampling programs, many of which were funded by the EPA WIIN Act,” added Glover. Under the revised LCR, water systems must sample at 20 percent of elementary schools and 20 percent of all childcare facilities in the service area each year, meaning all will be sampled within a five-year cycle (this applies to all facilities built before January 1, 2014).

The 120Water LCR solution includes a centralized location view of data, down to the fixture level in every school, and allows facility staff to map fixtures and collect samples on-the-go, with data rolling up into a Public Transparency Dashboard that keeps parents and other key stakeholders informed of the testing status.

“Resource-strapped, smaller communities who are already doing more with less will likely find the LCR revisions most burdensome,” said Glover. “Which is why our platform is specifically designed to meet the needs of all sizes and kinds of water systems and is capable of supporting virtually all aspects of the revised LCR, from inventory creation through to replacement. Combined with our deep policy expertise and services, we’re able to offer a fully comprehensive solution that makes our customers’ lives much easier.”

Del-Co Water Company, located in Delaware County, Ohio, is using 120Water’s digital water platform to perform the triennial reporting required under the Lead and Copper Rule. Every three years, Del-Co is required to get 50 water samples from 50 customer locations, which diverts precious resources away from other projects and has been difficult to achieve. The utility had been manually dropping off kits and calling residents to encourage them to correctly fill the bottle. Then employees would drive to the house to pick up the sample.

Now, with 120Water, sampling kits are mailed automatically to pre-selected customers, with clear instructions on how to fill the sample and return it with a prepaid shipping label. All kit progress is tracked in the 120Water software so the Del-Co team can see where they are in the process of hitting their goal. 120Water’s services team also assists with calling the selected customers in the area to ensure they know how to correctly fill their sample bottles.

Once kits are sent to the lab and tested, results are immediately available in the 120Water platform, eliminating the need to wait for batch results to arrive. Moving to a modern LCR solution like 120Water allows Del-Co flexibility for future programs and for better long-term data management. “It’s great to have a partnership with a company like 120Water,” says Damon Dye, Plant Superintendent. “We now feel confident we will be able to meet future projects required by the LCRR, including tier sampling and lead service line inventories.”

For water professionals interested in learning more about the regulatory changes of the revised LCR, 120Water will be holding a free, live Q&A on January 27 at 1pm EST. Registration is available here: https://120water.com/webinars/revised-lead-and-copper-rule/.

More information about 120Water’s digital solutions for LCRR compliance can be found at https://120water.com/lead-and-copper-rule/.

About 120Water
Water professionals across the country rely on 120Water to streamline and modernize their most complex drinking and waste water initiatives. The 120Water platform consists of sample & filter kits, cloud-based software, and services used to manage and execute water programs at scale while saving operational resources. 120Water solutions are used in 180,000 locations across the United States for clients including the city of Newark (NJ), Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, Chicago Public Schools, and Indiana Finance Authority. More information is available at 120Water.com and on Twitter @120_Water.

For information contact:

Linda Muskin, 847-432-7300
lmuskin@teamclarus.com

Mara Conklin, 847-816-9411
mconklin@teamclarus.com