Meet Jill Suarez. As the Town of Carbondale’s main meter technician, Suarez has been tasked with assuring local compliance with new federal requirements to assure the replacement of lead pipes bringing water into homes nationwide.
The rule change came with a major infrastructure bill passed in 2021 and was catalyzed by mass poisoning in Flint, Michigan after the city switched its water supply and did not properly add anti-corrosive treatment, causing lead from old pipes to contaminate the water people consumed and washed with for over a year.
Lead poisoning is known to cause irreversible brain and nerve damage, especially in children. Along with mandating that municipalities across the nation investigate the pipes delivering their potable water, the infrastructure bill included $55 billion to replace lead pipes and service lines.
“We don’t want people to be scared of this,” assured Public Works Director Kevin Schorzman. “We’re not aware of any lead pipes in town, but still need to verify.”
According to Scott Wenning, assistant public works director, Colorado outlawed the use of lead pipes in 1988, and everything since then is copper. So Suarez will only need to inventory some 800 homes built before 1988. Again, the Town of Carbondale is unaware of any lead pipes delivering water into people’s homes, but a common old style is galvanized steel. As the zinc coating on galvanized steel gradually corrodes, the pipe will begin to rust and should be replaced.
Suarez will go door-to-door during normal working hours requesting access in order to document the material substance of potable water pipes. It’s a task she estimates will take between 15 to 20 minutes per house, at most. No excavation is necessary, just a magnet test on the first 18 inches of pipe where it enters each home. This connection is typically in a crawl space or basement, but sometimes outside.
Again, Schorzman assured, “We’re only looking for service lines. There’s no code enforcement.” He added with humor, “We’re not going to count marijuana plants as we walk through the house.”
The Town’s goal is to survey 150 or more households per month in order to complete the inventory by their Oct. 16 deadline. As of February, more than 127 people had already responded. Although the Town doesn’t expect to find any lead connections, identifying old galvanized lines that are corroded and in need of replacement could help to secure public funding for that work.
For anyone wishing to schedule a time for Suarez to stop by, rather than wait for her to drop in, you may call 970-309-4869. There is also a survey online (www.tinyurl.com/LeadandCopperCdale) that Carbondale households can fill out and submit along with a photo, if they prefer.