Those include $50,000 to Butler County Water & Sewer, two grants totaling $97,360 to Montgomery County Environmental Services and $45,000 to the village of Lewisburg in Preble County. Every applicant received the full amount they asked for, according to a state news release.
Butler County’s water system is relatively new, so it includes no known or suspected lead lines, said Martha Shelby, Butler County Water & Sewer director. But regulations require the utility to check and prove that, she said.
The grant will let the water system identify any possible trouble spots, inspect those service lines from water mains to individual water meters, and also check the privately-owned pipes from the meter into residences, Shelby said. Since the grant has just been announced inspections have not yet been scheduled, she said.
If any lead pipes are found — which she doesn’t expect — they’ll need to be replaced. While the utility would replace any such pipes it owns, policy hasn’t been set on whether the utility or the owner would pay to replace lead pipes from a meter into a private home or business, Shelby said.
Montgomery County is receiving two grants for separate, but related, sections of its water system: Greater Moraine 1 South will get $49,880 and Greater Moraine 2 North gets $47,480, according to the grant announcement.
The county has a map of possible lead pipes, but that’s based on installation age, not definite knowledge, according to the county website.
Lewisburg will use its grant to buy some GIS equipment to map water lines, hydrants and valves, and to check for lead pipes running from water mains into houses, said Susan Laux, the village fiscal officer.
Once any problems are mapped, the village will work on a plan to remove those pipes, she said. State grants are available for lead pipe removal too; Lewisburg has already replaced some lead lines in older homes, Laux said.
“We don’t think we have a lot,” she said. Most of the village’s home developments are too new to have lead pipes, Laux said.
Lead pipes are no longer installed, but old ones can leach the metal into drinking water. That can harm anyone, but especially children. There are probably 6.1 million lead water lines still in use across the country, according to the state.
The Ohio EPA has previously given $2.2 million to six communities to replace about 500 lead service lines, and $2.1 million to 48 communities to find old lead pipes, according to the state.
The 2021 federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included millions to find and remove lead pipes.
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