Understanding the Lead Pipe Replacement Process
Jersey City is taking proactive steps to protect residents by replacing all lead service lines over the next decade, while diligently pursuing available funding programs to support the cost of this work.
The water from the JCMUA water treatment plant is tested regularly and meets all state and federal water quality requirements. There is no lead in the water coming from the treatment plant. But if the pipes that transport the water from the water main to your home are made of lead there is the potential for lead to leach into the water. JCMUA wants to remove these lead lines before there is any potential risk to the consumer. You will be contacted by the JCMUA’s contractor prior to replacement to schedule a home visit to review the replacement process with you. This is your time to ask questions!
A lead service line replacement typically takes 4-8 hours and it is necessary to shut off the water service for a period on the day of replacement.
How does the replacement process work?
Watch our instructional video to learn more about the process:
The Lead Free JC program will be divided into multiple contracts for investigation and replacement of lead service lines. This will be an approximately eight year program with multiple construction contracts added annually. If you live in a current construction area you should have received an agreement package that contains a Right of Entry agreement that needs to be signed and returned so work can be done at your property.
All properties in the JCMUA distribution system will eventually be included as the program moves along. If you do not live in a current contract area but are interested in signing your Right of Entry agreement early, we can send you an agreement to return now and you will be included in the replacement program.
For more information, contact us.
Did you receive a folder in the mail?
JCMUA is accepting signed agreements online via DocuSign. Enter your information below and a Lead Free JC representative will contact you to begin the process.
Would you prefer to return your agreement via DocuSign?
Which neighborhoods are the JCMUA working in?
As part of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Lead and Copper Rule Revision water utilities are required to replace all lead service lines (including galvanized) by July 2031. JCMUA has started a lead service line replacement (LSLR) program with the initial goal to target known lead service lines in areas of sensitive populations and overburdened communities. To identify these target areas a weighted scoring matrix was developed. Locations were prioritized based on information from the service line inventory, demographic data, and environmental justice screening tools available from the EPA.
Scoring Prioritization
Points are assigned to each premise based on the following criteria. The sum of the criteria scores yield the total prioritization score for each premise.
1. Service Line Material
2. Previously completed partial replacement
3. Areas with high populations of children age less than 5, derived from the Environmental Justice Screen Data
4. Children facilities and schools derived from the Child Care Center of New Jersey data set published by NJDEP
5. Low income areas identified per the NJDEP’s Overburden Communities layer
Project Area Selection based on Prioritization Project area selection is based on the total weighted scores of the above criteria.
Method 1: Prioritization Score 80 or Higher Blocks containing three or more premises with a prioritization score of 80 or higher were reviewed for inclusion in Contracts 1 and 2. Where applicable adjacent blocks of high scoring lead and unknown material service lines, score of 60 or higher, were included in the project limits to incorporate additional premises in the contract work.
*Block is defined as intersection to intersection
*Limit work on state and county roads where possible properties service from major roads were not included in the project areas
Method 2: Clusters of Lead Service Lines Clusters of lead service lines with a prioritization score less than 80 were reviewed for inclusion in Contracts 1 and 2. Such areas are anticipated to have a high occurrence of lead. As with Method 1, the project area was expanded to include adjacent blocks with high scoring premises.
Method 3: High Density of Unknown Service Line Materials Areas with a high density of premises with no material information with a prioritization score of 60 or above were reviewed for inclusion in Contracts 1 & 2. Such premises tend to be clustered in area with higher vulnerable population and overburdened community scores. Material identification and replacement of lead service lines in these areas are a priority for the utility.
Contract 1 & 2 Development Selected project areas were grouped into Contracts 1 or 2 based on geographic location. The areas were divided with the goal of evenly dispersing the number of known lead and anticipated replacement between the two contracts. Contract 1 consist of 11 areas focused in the center of the City. Contract 2 consists of 7 areas focused in the north and south of the City.
Have a question about the construction process?
In order to help encourage more residents to replace their lead service lines, the JCMUA has been authorized to provide a one-time credit of up to $10,000, which will be applied to the customer’s future water service charges to repay the cost of construction. This credit is non-transferable and ends with change of ownership or sale of the property.
Credit Program
Watch the water sampling guide video