The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) today announced a new program of activities in a pledge to our community. This "Community Water Pledge" commits the Water and Sewer Authority to take further steps to address the leeching of lead from lead service lines into some District homes’ drinking water.

In striving to meet the expectations of our customers and their families while also fulfilling the Water and Sewer Authority’s mission and Board of Directors mandate, this Pledge is WASA’s commitment to do more for its customers than what is called for under current regulatory requirements and goes beyond an agreement the authority is expected to sign today with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

"From water chemistry to operations to communications, we now understand the lead service line issue better than we did upon first discovering it," said WASA General Manager Jerry Johnson. "We’ve gained much of this knowledge through scientific research, our work with academic and health experts, and by listening to our customers about what they expect from WASA. Since we take our commitment to and feedback from our customers seriously, today WASA reaffirms our commitment to quality water delivery and world-class customer service by further pledging to the residents of the District of Columbia operational and communication improvements consistent with what we believe our customers expect, which are above and beyond what we’ve agreed to with the EPA."

Johnson said that the decision to recommend that the Water and Sewer Authority enter into an agreement with the EPA is an effort "to bring to closure regulatory compliance issues so we can move forward to address the practical issues for our customers." WASA’s Board will review the agreement at its upcoming meeting.

As part of WASA’s Community Water Pledge, it will:

·Significantly accelerate the replacement of all District public space lead service lines compared to EPA’s requirements.

·Work in partnership with a local financial institution to create a means tested loan program to help customers finance the replacement of lead service line pipes on private property.

·Continue to work with District government agencies to identify public grant funds to help District residents with lead service line pipe replacements.

·Appoint a Lead Service Coordinator reporting directly to the General Manager to manage all day-to-day WASA activities regarding lead service line replacements, community outreach, communications and water testing.

·Launch a Mobile Community Response Unit to more readily address customers concerns.

·Work closely with WASA stakeholders, including elected officials, faith-based, community and civic organizations, and others to ensure communications are clear and reach audiences appropriately, including those that don’t speak English.

·Measure communication effectiveness in a quantitative manner.

·Strengthen its partnership with the D.C. Department of Health to address any health concerns of D.C. residents regarding lead leeching.

·Work closer with the Washington Aqueduct regarding production of water provided to D.C. residents.

·Further develop corporate partnerships to benefit resident and rate payers which will specifically address the further distribution of water filters and the availability of bank loans to residents in order to finance lead service line replacements on private residential property.

·Work with the D.C. Department of Health and experts from the George Washington University School of Public Health to more fully understand and communicate to residents information now available from local research and analysis regarding the health effects of water-based lead exposure.

·Convene a National Water Authority Peer Group Workshop so experts, scientists and health professionals can discuss and explore the D.C. experience with other utilities in an effort to better frame future policy discussions for the nation and our policymakers.

WASA unveiled its Pledge as it continues to work with the EPA to respond to the federal agency’s audit of WASA’s compliance under EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule. The consent decree that WASA and the EPA expect to enter into calls on the Water and Sewer Authority to achieve annually minimum lead service line replacements as well as to submit plans and meet minimum requirements for water sampling and customer communications plans until the lead action levels are consistently below 15 parts per billion. (See attached fact sheet for a comprehensive list of remedies agreed to by WASA and the EPA.)

"As part of the consent decree, WASA has agreed to a set of activities most of which WASA is currently doing, has planned to do, or has done in the past," Johnson said.

Johnson said that the elevated levels of lead found in some District homes’ drinking water is teaching the Authority, federal regulators, policymakers and the public about how the Lead and Copper Rule plays itself out in real life, and what our customers expect.

"This experience has taught us that even following the Lead and Copper Rule 100 percent is insufficient to meeting the expectations set by our customers. Coupling the science and the health information with what our customers want, today’s Pledge embodies WASA’s approach to meeting those expectations."