Camden-based American Water recently joined events hosted by the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency focused on reducing lead exposure.
President Joe Biden’s administration has set a goal of making rapid progress toward replacing all lead pipes in the next decade.
“American Water is pleased to be a participant in today’s events and applauds this national effort to remove all lead service lines,” Susan Hardwick, CEO and president of American Water, said. “We have eliminated about 40,000 lead service lines across our service areas in the last several years. This is part of our proactive, multifaceted approach to managing the potential exposure to lead as part of our commitment to maintain high-quality water and help protect the health and safety of customers. We are committed to removing lead piping from service lines across our entire American Water footprint.”
As part of today’s events, the administration released its Guiding Principles to Reduce Lead and Protect Families and Communities.
Additionally, American Water continues to work with numerous state public utility commissions, consumer advocates, state and local representatives, and other stakeholders to drive solutions that allow this critical replacement work to be funded within utility infrastructure replacement programs and/or through state revolving funds.
On a continuous basis, American Water also communicates, educates and works with customers on steps to minimize exposure to lead in drinking water. The company participates in the Lead Service Line Replacement Collaborative, a joint effort of 25 national public health, water utility, environmental, labor, consumer, housing and state and local governmental organizations to accelerate full removal of the lead pipes providing drinking water to millions of American homes.
