Norfolk plans to begin replacing lead pipes across the city in 2025, starting with the most at-risk communities, a public works leader told Norfolk City Council members Tuesday.
Council members also approved $26 million in funding for the program — a 20-year, $15.6 million low-interest loan and another $10.4 million loan which operates like a grant and does not have to be repaid. Both federal loans are funded through the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.
Lead does not come from the water that leaves Norfolk’s water treatment plants, said Mary Keough, acting assistant director of utilities. Instead, it seeps through old service lines and plumbing.
Through the new program, Norfolk workers are inspecting the city’s 71,000 service lines to determine whether they are made of lead. The city is on track to meet an Oct. 16 deadline for an initial inventory of lead lines set by the Environmental Protection Agency.
“An elimination of these lead service lines will reduce that exposure and make our water system even stronger and healthier,” Keogh said during the meeting.