Town will pay to remove lead water pipes.
NORTH PROVIDENCE – The town will use grant money to replace lead pipe water service lines to homes to prevent future contamination problems.
“We are addressing these concerns before it becomes an issue,” said Lombardi.
“This is not a crisis; we’re trying to be proactive.” Providence Water will remove lines from the main to the lot line, and the new program will replace service lines from the lot line into homes, said Lombardi.
With some cases of lead found in North Providence water during recent tests, Lombardi and other town officials said this was a step they felt was necessary to take.
“We take as many tests as possible, quite frankly, just to ensure that people are getting safe drinking water,” said Caruolo.
There are two types of tests: compliance and lead testing kits.
The tests are done to homes that have public side lead service or a copper service installed between 1982 and 1986, said Caruolo.
The EPA determines a lead exceedance based on whether 90 percent of the homes tested have lead levels less than the action level of 15 parts per billion.
Caruolo said Providence Water spends about $20 million a year addressing problems.