Illinois passed the Lead Service Line Replacement and Notification Act in May of 2021, and it went into effect January 1, 2022. The ultimate goal is the replacement of all lead service lines in the state of Illinois. Furthermore, this legislation does not only address replacing lines in public properties or right-of-ways, but replacing lines up to and even into private residences as needed. Sounds like a monumental task? You’re right, but then again, you’ve got Cloudpoint to call upon.
The three main parts to this work are inventorying, notifying, and replacing, and here’s how GIS can help.
Inventory
Thankfully most municipalities have some amount of data regarding their water systems. However, is the data accurate, accessible, shareable, and editable? All of these questions are answered with GIS. Understanding that a project of this magnitude will take some time, the state requires an updated inventory submitted by April 15, 2023, and a completed inventory by April 15, 2024.
Requirements:
The total number of service lines connected to the community water supply's distribution system
Construction materials used for each service line connected to the community water supply's distribution system
Total number of lead service lines that were newly identified in the material inventory for the community water supply after the community water supply last submitted a service line inventory to the Agency; and
Total number of suspected or known lead service lines that were replaced after the community water supply last submitted a service line inventory to the Agency, and the material of the service line that replaced each lead service line
Have GIS Data?:
Data Collection: Our Field Technicians work closely with your department to review all existing data, plan the collection areas and times, and locate and update all required attributes to complete this inventory with high-accuracy GPS equipment.
GIS Layer Updates: Layers are created and published to a web portal where creating or updating line features for pipes, snapping lines to fitting locations (if available), and populating missing attributes using available reference data.
No GIS?
Take the first step and have us implement our Lead Service Line Replacement app for you. Grant funding may cover these expenses as they are invaluable to the inventorying and notifying phases of this project.
Notify
“When identifying the materials of construction under paragraph (2) of this subsection, the owner or operator of the community water supply shall to the best of the owner's or operator's ability identify the type of construction material used on the customer's side of the curb box, meter, or other line of demarcation and the community water supply's side of the curb box, meter, or other line of demarcation…
…If a community water supply identifies a lead service line connected to a building, the owner or operator of the community water supply shall attempt to notify the owner of the building and all occupants of the building of the existence of the lead service line within 15 days after identifying the lead service line, or as soon as is reasonably possible thereafter. Individual written notice shall be given according to the provisions of subsection (jj).”
-https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=041500050K17.12
Replace
While Cloudpoint does not offer traditional engineering services, our highly accurate and easily shareable GIS data is invaluable to municipalities and contractors alike. Securely share data with third parties to ensure that the right lines are getting replaced at the right times, and monitor that progress in real-time with a Lead Service Line Dashboard.
Dashboards are highly customizable so you can visualize your data how you want, and get reports with a click of a button.