Trenton Water Works Has Replaced More Than 500 Lead Services Since February

Trenton, N.J. — Trenton Water Works announced today that its Lead Service Line Replacement Program (LSLRP) has replaced more than 500 lead-service lines since the construction phase of the capital program started in February 2020.

“We have two contractors, South State and Spinello Companies Inc., using a total of five crews to do lead-service replacements in Trenton, Hamilton, Ewing and Lawrence,” said David C. Smith, Acting Director of the city’s Department of Water and Sewer, which operates Trenton Water Works, serving 63,000 customers in a five-municipality service area. “Although we’ve had to reduce our operations because of COVID-19, we have continued the removal of lead services from our water-distribution system.”

TWW’s Lead Service Line Replacement Program is designed to help homeowners replace service lines made from dangerous lead that are on their private properties for a cost of $1,000, which can be paid in installments once the water utility starts invoicing next year. TWW officials are working with state government and other government entities to make the program free and mandatory. A private property’s water-service line runs from the shutoff valve in the street, called the curb box, to the water meter in the home. It takes approximately eight hours to replace a typical lead service.

TWW is spending $24 million, sourced in part from the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank (I-Bank), an independent state financing authority, for the first phase of the LSLRP, which will remove 4,300 lead services by June 2021. TWW is working to remove all lead services from its system over the next five years through its $405 million, six-year capital plan, which also involves the construction of a decentralized water-storage system, permanently retiring the 100-million-gallon Pennington Avenue Reservoir in Trenton.

TWW estimates some 37,000 lead services in its inventory, although that number is likely to be adjusted downward as more data from ongoing material survey teams becomes available. There are 17,463 in Trenton, 11,618 in Hamilton Township, 5,236 in Ewing Township, and 2,383 in Lawrence Township. Hopewell Township has no lead services because its housing stock is newer than its neighbors.

Homeowners can still sign up online for TWW’s Lead Service Line Replacement Program at www.twwleadprogram.com. Questions concerning program details can be answered by calling TWW’s Lead Service Line Replacement Program hotline at (609) 989-3600.

“While our COVID-19 response temporarily suspended lead-service replacements for homeowners, our contractors will resume full operations in the next two-to-three weeks. Contractors will then contact homeowners whose replacements were delayed to reschedule for a convenient time. Please be patient as we completely reactivate our lead-service work,” said Smith.

Trenton Water Works is among the largest publicly owned, urban water utilities in the United States. It supplies an average of 27 million gallons of Delaware River-sourced drinking water per day to 63,000 metered customers. It services more than 200,000 people in Trenton, parts of Hamilton Township, Ewing Township, Lawrence Township and Hopewell Township in Mercer County, New Jersey. Established more than 200 years ago, TWW operates a 60-million-gallon water-filtration plant and water-distribution system that includes a 100-million-gallon reservoir. TWW’s system has 683 miles of water mains varying in size from 4 to 48 inches in diameter, three pump stations, and six interconnections between TWW and other water suppliers.

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