ZIONSVILLE, IN -- 120Water, a comprehensive digital water platform in use at over 180,000 locations across the nation, has been selected by Denver Water for a three-year, $19 million program to help the utility manage its sweeping and proactive Lead Reduction Program. 120Water will facilitate the program’s supply and distribution of pitchers and water filters certified to remove lead as well as its targeted testing for lead at customer taps.
Denver Water has developed a comprehensive inventory of known and suspected lead services lines in its service area using a combination of property records, water quality tests and visual inspections of service lines. Residents with homes identified as having or possibly having a lead service line will be notified by mail beginning in spring 2020. Denver Water will be replacing lead service lines on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis over the next 15 years.
As replacement work gets underway, Denver Water is proactively offering residents a pitcher and water filter certified to remove lead to ensure their continued confidence in water quality and at no direct cost to the customer. A few weeks before receiving the pitcher and filter, residents are receiving communication materials by mail to introduce the program and increase awareness. The goal of these mailings is to tell residents to expect the water filters and know why and how to use them. As part of the program, 120Water will deliver approximately 110,000 pitchers and filters and 1.2 million replacement filters along with clear instructions for usage.
During the same period, 120Water will facilitate a water sampling program that will test water samples collected from the taps of homes prior to their lead service lines being replaced. 120Water will facilitate the mailing of testing kits to affected residents, along with detailed and easy instructions on how residents should perform the tests. 120Water will coordinate the return and laboratory analysis of test kits, and manage all associated data using 120Water’s cloud-based platform. 120Water will automate the communication of these test results to Denver Water and residents both electronically and by mail.
“Denver Water is a model example of a proactive and timely Lead Reduction Program. In order to manage the full lifecycle of their program and automate key aspects, they sought a turnkey solution provider with capabilities to provide pitchers and water filters, water testing kit fulfillment, water testing, data management and service support,” said 120Water CEO Megan Glover. “120Water is the only company with a platform purpose-built to manage all aspects of these highly-complex drinking water programs.”
The Denver Water Lead Reduction Program is designed to reduce potential lead exposure for customers with lead service lines and plumbing that contains lead. The water Denver Water delivers to homes and businesses is lead-free, but lead can enter the water as it moves through the customer’s lead-containing plumbing and service lines.
Denver Water’s Lead Reduction Program was approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in December 2019. The program launched in March 2020. The program’s goals include replacing an estimated 64,000 to 84,000 lead service lines in Denver Water’s service area over 15 years at no direct charge to the customer
