Replacing Lead Pipes in Philadelphia for Cleaner Drinking Water

Replacing Lead Pipes in Philadelphia for Cleaner Drinking Water

Snapshot

• Project name: Replacing Lead Pipes in Philadelphia for Cleaner Drinking Water
• Program: Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act
• Law: Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
• Recipient: City of Philadelphia (via Commonwealth of Pennsylvania)
• Investment amount: $160,000,000
• City: Philadelphia
• State: Pennsylvania
• Congressional districts: 2, 3, and 5
• Construction start date: Ongoing
• Jobs created: Undetermined

Historical context

• Problems with lead in drinking water have received greater attention since the 2014 Flint, Michigan, discovery that drinking water was contaminated. – PennPIRG, June 21, 2022

Contaminated drinking water disproportionately harms vulnerable populations, especially children of color and those from low-income families, who are exposed in Philadelphia schools:

• A 2022 study found lead in the water lines in 61 percent of the outlets tested in Philadelphia schools, “potentially exposing tens of thousands of students to toxins proven to cause learning and behavioral issues as well as health problems including damage to internal organs.” – The Guardian, February 18, 2022
• “‘Children, especially those in the pre-K to seven-year-old age range, and particularly children of color and those from low-wealth communities, are among those most vulnerable to environmental toxins and exposures of all kinds,’ said Jerry Roseman, director of environmental science and occupational safety and health for the Philadelphia federation of teachers.” – The Guardian, February 18, 2022
• The Philadelphia School District is using funding from the American Rescue Plan to address drinking water in schools. – PennPIRG, June 21, 2022

Lead pipes are a long-standing problem in Philadelphia, especially when privately owned:

• “The city uses chemical treatments to coat the lining of lead service pipes, and the water delivered to customers does not contain lead. However, there’s a possibility that some of the coating could become damaged or ineffective, causing lead to enter the water. That is more likely to occur when the water passing through the lead service line is warmer.” – WHYY, February 4, 2023
• “In Philadelphia, customers are responsible for maintaining plumbing, which presents a challenge when it comes to replacing lead pipes owned by private or non-city properties. However, the city has been working to replace lead pipes as much as possible. Since 2017, the city has replaced more than 2,600 lead services. The city estimates about 20,000 parcels in Philadelphia have a lead service line.” – WHYY, February 4, 2023

There is a lack of agreement over “safe” levels of lead:

• “‘The science on lead is settled – there is no safe level of exposure and it is time to remove this risk to support thriving people and vibrant communities,’ the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, Michael S Regan, said.” – The Guardian, February 18, 2022
• “But critics noted there was no plan to reduce the existing ‘acceptable’ level of lead in water from a Donald Trump-era rule of 15ppb.” – The Guardian, February 18, 2022

Older homes are more likely to have lead pipes that can contaminate drinking water, creating permanent, generational harm to children and families:

• “Philadelphia’s aging housing stock and deep poverty contribute to thousands of children being harmed each year by lead. Generation after generation of children in the same neighborhoods suffer permanent damage from this unseen menace.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer, last accessed March 2023
• Map of toxic lead risk, broken down by census tract, including 705 homes where the “city took property owners to Lead Court after a child has been poisoned and the property failed two inspections.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer, last accessed June 2023

Philadelphia has the highest poverty rate per capita of any of the 10 largest cities in the country:

• This high rate is in part due to a history of structural racism and racial residential segregation through redlining, a practice that creates racial segregation, and more recent practices of “reverse redlining” whereby consumers in those neighborhoods are charged higher interest rates. Those neighborhoods are currently “

  SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

  SDGs Addressed:

  • SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
  • SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
  • SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • SDG 13: Climate Action

  Targets:

  1. Target 6.1: By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.
  2. Target 6.3: By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally.
  3. Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.
  4. Target 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.
  5. Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries.

  Indicators:

  • Indicator 6.1.1: Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services.
  • Indicator 6.3.2: Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality.
  • Indicator 10.2.1: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income, disaggregated by age, sex, and disability status.
  • Indicator 11.1.1: Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements, or inadequate housing.
  • Indicator 13.1.1: Number of deaths, missing persons, and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population.

  Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

  SDGs	Targets	Indicators
  SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation	Target 6.1: By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.	Indicator 6.1.1: Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services.
  SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities	Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.	Indicator 10.2.1: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income, disaggregated by age, sex, and disability status.
  	Target 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.	Indicator 11.1.1: Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements, or inadequate housing.
  SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities	Target 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.	Indicator 11.1.1: Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements, or inadequate housing.
  SDG 13: Climate Action	Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries.	Indicator 13.1.1: Number of deaths, missing persons, and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population.

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  Source: americanprogress.org

   

  

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