The City of Gainesville Thursday was awarded $200,000 by the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority in order to assist with creating a federally mandated inventory of lead service lines.
Gainesville is reportedly one of 204 different communities throughout the state that has been selected under the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, according to city officials. Those funds are being made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The BIL investment in the water sector also includes $50 billion that will strengthen drinking water systems nationwide.
Funds awarded to Gainesville will mitigate some of the costs associated with processes that identify lead service lines, especially those located in customer-owned meters. All water systems are required to submit a completed lead service line inventory to the U. S. Protection Agency by Oct. 16, 2024, according to a release from Gainesville officials.
Once the inventory is complete, the details will reportedly be available on an online website map.
Water that leaves Gainesville city treatment plants is lead-free, and officials report it continues to meet all drinking water quality standards. Due to an extensive replacement program that has run over the past 25 years, there are no known utility-owned portions of the system that have lead pipes.
However, that does not prevent lead from getting into the water as it moves through customer-owned lead pipes or faucets, according to the city.
Because of this, Gainesville has been actively “taking steps for years to protect the community from lead in drinking water using measures such as corrosion control,” officials said Thursday.
