FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — Over ten million dollars later, more Fort Wayne residents have safer water.
On Monday, the City of Fort Wayne joined City Utilities and neighborhood advocates to announce that its Lead Services Replacement Program had hit a milestone. About 320 households, or 91% of East Side and Harvester Neighborhoods, have had their lead water lines replaced in the past four years by the city.
“We are proud of this project,” East Side Neighborhood President Ruby Bates said. “We were so glad we were selected to have this project completed in our area, free.”
Frank Suarez, City Utilities Chief of Communications, said houses built as recently as 1951 could have lead water lines. It’s a problem around the country; a federal mandate requires utilities to document homes with lead water lines and the federal government is also working towards a mandatory replacement.
City Utilities Deputy Director Matthew Wirtz said ingesting lead can lead to health problems, including the hindrance of child brain development.
But faucets living inside homes with lead water pipes have not been constantly leaking lead.
“For years, [the City of Fort Wayne] has been line-softening and feeding in orthophosphate that coats the inside of our pipes so that lead didn’t leech out.” Wirtz said. “We’ve been sampling for many, many years and showing our water’s safe.
Wirtz said as long as those service lines are made with lead, there’s always the risk that the line softening would not work, leading the city to seek a long-term solution.
In 2021, City Utilities was able to set aside $11 million of federal grant money to begin replacing lead water lines, targeting low-income neighborhoods with a higher population of children. This saves homes the risk of lead poisoning and thousands of dollars in repairs.
But this project requires the city to not only work on the streets, but also inside people’s homes. In order to do that, they needed connections.
Bates has lived in her East Side home for 20 years; she knows what neighbors respond to.
For the past four years, she has been reaching neighbors by phone banks, for older folks, and door-to-door knocking, for those unreachable by mail. She also connected with Adams Elementary School and Saint Andrews Church, encouraging members to sign up for the city’s program.
“[This milestone] means longevity of the home and safe water for those who live in it,” Bates said.
“Today, people want to be careful,” Wirtz said. “It takes a lot of personal relationships. The neighborhood presidents were essential to getting those projects done because the neighborhoods trust them.”
To learn more or sign up for the Lead Line Replacement Program, visit City Utilities.
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