LFDC FY25 Program Metrics

Featured Testimonials

• "My whole block was in the program last December and it was efficient." 
  - Saundra B., Park View Neighborhood
   
• "Great job. The work was fast and painless." 
  - Yolanda A., 16th Street Heights Neighborhood
   

Featured Team Member

Burak Kaynak

Burak Kaynak serves as the Program Manager for the Capital Water Program and Lead Free DC. He oversees the capital execution of both the Lead Free DC (LFDC) initiative and the Small Diameter Water Main Replacement (SDWMR) program. Burak manages a lifetime budget of $1.7 billion for LFDC and a 10-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) budget of $1.84 billion for SDWMR. To date (10/10/25), LFDC has successfully replaced 10,181 lead service lines—celebrating our 10,000th replacement this October. Burak is thrilled to mark this milestone, which reflects years of hard work, community impact, and progress toward a lead-free future for DC residents.

Program Strategies to Reduce Costs

Master Services Agreement

LFDC has initiated a construction materials pre-purchase program in which DC Water purchases construction materials directly from a supplier and furnishes them to the construction contractor. By purchasing materials directly from a supplier, DC Water can realize cost savings by avoiding the contractor’s procurement mark up. A comparison of material costs for bids from the most recent round of construction contracts for the Block-by-Block Program showed by purchasing the materials directly, DC Water is seeing about a 10% reduction in the cost for the construction contract.

Pave DC Program Participation

DC Water is in collaboration with DDOT’s Pave DC Program to find alignment in paving plans and DC Water construction projects to generate an overall cost savings in post construction paving. This collaboration has resulted in approximately $400k in savings to the LFDC Program to date from 2024.

Block by Block Program Scaling

DC Water has increased the size of Block-by-Block construction projects to create efficiencies of scale in construction and program management costs. Data to date indicates there has been a 15% reduction in the average cost per service line replacement on the Block-by-Block program when compared to earlier, smaller construction contracts. e/p>

Program Strategies to Expedite Lead Removal

Pilot Program for Testing Pipe Material

DC Water is evaluating alternative material identification technologies and processes. This includes inspection technologies and machine learning models, to determine if there are viable, more cost-effective alternatives to using test pit excavation to verify service line materials and identify unknowns. These inspection technologies also have the added benefit of less disruption to the homeowner during the investigation.

Partner Agency Agreements

DC Water and the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) have entered a Memorandum of Understanding that will streamline the permitting process and will likely reduce the cost of developing permit documents and speed the final inspection and closeout process.

Program Strategies that Comply with EPA Requirements

Service Line Records

To meet EPA requirements and develop a complete and accurate service line inventory, LFDC is routinely and regularly updating DC Water’s Service Line Materials Inventory with data from field investigations.