News
July 13, 2022City of Watervliet to Continue Replacing Lead Water Lines
Mayor Charles Patricelli announced today that the city has awarded a contract to Greenwood Contracting to replace 16 lead service lines and laterals to homes in Watervliet.
The contract awarded is part of a New York State Department of Heath Land Service Lead Line Replacement Program (LSLRP). This is the Phase II of the program to replace lead lines that are part of the city’s infrastructure and were the type of lines traditionally used when older homes were built in the City of Watervliet as well as many parts of the country. In 2020 we completed phase I, which included replacing over a dozen waterlines that had lead on 9th ave., prior to repaving the road from 19th St to 16th St.
Lead water lines, because of corrosion in the pipes, may cause cardiovascular and kidney disease and reproductive problems in adults. Lead causes many issues for children, including behaving and learning problems; Lower IQ and hyperactivity; slowed growth; hearing problem and anemia.
“We can’t eliminate all lead lines, but we can chip away as many as we can and as fast as we can with the funds available,” Mayor Patricelli said. “We will continue to seek funding through future lead service line replacement grants to help other residents in our community as well.”
In 2021, the city officials solicited from residents who wanted to be involved in Phase II of the program. Homes with children aged 6-and-under were given priority.
Phase I started in 2020, when the city used a NYS Department of Health grant of $548,000 to repair roads and replace 41 lead laterals to 9th Avenue homes as part of the Water Supply Improvement Program. We are extremely grateful for the this funding to help our homeowners get rid of these pipes and especially keeping our children safe and healthy.
