The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County is picking up the tab for lead and galvanized water service line replacements, walking back an earlier plan to bill property owners. Officials say the no-cost offer is meant to jolt a sluggish voluntary pilot into motion and push work forward ahead of looming federal deadlines for getting lead lines out of the ground.
Authority Scraps Fees to Jump-Start Program
Board members voted to abandon plans to charge homeowners up to $3,200 for the private-side portion of a full-service line replacement and will now cover that cost themselves to boost sign-ups. “We decided to reverse course,” MAWC business manager Brian Hohman told TribLIVE, while board chairman Randy Roadman said the move reflects that the authority is “looking out for our customers.”
How Big MAWC’s System Really Is
The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County provides drinking water to more than 120,000 customers across five counties and runs multiple treatment plants, storage tanks, and thousands of miles of transmission mains, according to MAWC. That sprawling network affects how quickly crews can confirm what each service line is made of and schedule those private-side replacements.
Testing Turned Up Problem Lines in the Pilot
MAWC launched an $11 million effort to swap out as many as 1,000 lead and galvanized service lines over three years in nine communities. Contractors recently opened more than 300 test holes and found 155 lead lines, according to local reporting. The program originally called for property owners to pay up to $3,200 for work from the curb to the house, but not a single customer had enrolled before that fee was dropped, TribLIVE reports.
Federal Clock Is Ticking on Lead Removal
The EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, finalized in 2024, require water systems to identify and remove lead and certain galvanized service lines on an accelerated timeline that effectively sets 2037 as the horizon for full replacement, according to the Federal Register. Other utilities in the region are already deep into the work: Pittsburgh Water recently celebrated its 14,000th full lead service line replacement, a reminder of the scale MAWC will have to match.
What Residents Need to Know Now
MAWC says crews will start outreach in East Vandergrift to secure homeowner consent for the free replacements and is banking on the no-cost deal to drive participation. Authority officials also note that routine water testing has not shown evidence of lead leaching into the treated system. Customers with questions can call MAWC at (724) 755-5800 or review the authority’s lead resources and questionnaire on its website, per MAWC.
