By the fall of each year, Denver Water plans to have identified work areas for the following year. Several factors drive when and where service lines are replaced. Denver Water prioritizes communities who are most vulnerable and at-risk from lead exposure, particularly infants and children. Areas with large numbers of facilities that serve these populations, such as schools and daycares, are prioritized. Other determining factors include areas with the highest concentration of lead service lines, underserved neighborhoods and coordination with other known construction activity.

Once work areas are identified, Denver Water will determine the timing for individual properties in that work area. Once a property has been identified for a service line replacement, Denver Water will send additional information about the replacement process and next steps. This notification typically comes a month or two before the anticipated replacement date.

Outside of the Lead Reduction Program, Denver Water will also replace any customer-owned lead service line with a copper water line, at no direct charge to the customer, when discovered during a main replacement project.
 

To minimize disturbances as much as possible, Denver Water’s contractors and crews are deploying a trenchless technology to replace lead service lines wherever this method is feasible. This method only requires two excavations; one in the street connected to the Denver Water watermain and a second around your water meter pit. Water meters may be located inside or outside of your property. Both excavation sites will be restored upon completion of the lead service line replacement. During the pre-construction meeting at your home, the team will walk through the specific plan for your property and any associated impacts.

Identifying the material of a service line can be challenging as plumbing codes vary and different pipe material and fittings were used during different decades. The materials available today were not necessarily available decades ago.

While a visual inspection of the service line where it connects to your water meter can provide some insight, it doesn’t indicate what other materials may be used in other sections of the service line buried underground. Denver Water may still need to conduct investigations to confirm that no sections of your service line contain lead.

The Lead Reduction Program is focused on identifying and replacing customer-owned lead service lines. The service line brings water into your home from the water main in the street. A water main replacement does not guarantee that your service line is not made of lead. To determine whether or not you have a lead service line, Denver Water will need to conduct an investigation using a combination of property and assessor records, water tap dates, water quality tests and/or visual inspections of the service line.

If the full service line is copper, it is still possible for lead-containing household fixtures and plumbing to elevate lead levels in your water. Learn more about sources of lead in drinking water. The water provided by Denver Water to homes and businesses is lead-free, but lead can get into the water as it moves through lead-containing household fixtures, plumbing and water service lines — the pipe that brings water into the home from the main in the street — that are owned by the customer.

Denver Water will conduct an investigation before removing any property from the program. We complete investigations in order to gather additional information and data so that we are confident in removing a property from the program. The investigation may consist of a water quality test, additional analysis of available records, interior inspections of the pipe in the home and/or exterior inspection of the pipe between the home and the main delivery pipe in the street. Once we have completed our investigation process and are able to confirm whether or not you should be included in the program, we will send you a letter of the results.
 

Denver Water is replacing lead service lines on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis, factoring in those who are most vulnerable and at-risk from lead exposure, underserved areas and planned construction activities.

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Denver Water will send an initial letter to inform you that your property has been identified for an upcoming lead service line replacement. This letter will include a consent form to sign, which allows Denver Water crews to access your property and replace your service line.

After we receive the signed consent form, an in-home visit will be scheduled for you, Denver Water and the contractor to review the replacement process in detail and set a date and time for the work to take place. Most service lines can be replaced within four to eight hours. An adult over the age of 18 must be present during the replacement work since crews will need to inspect the service line connection inside your home. 

Following replacement, Denver Water will restore the landscaping exterior to a level surface and provide reseeding of grass, generally within a four-month time frame.

Approximately four months after your replacement, you will be offered a water quality testing kit to verify that lead levels have been reduced. Denver Water encourages you to use your filter for six months after the service line replacement and flush your water (run cold water from the kitchen or bathroom faucet for five minutes after not using water in the home for a few hours).

Several factors will drive when and where we replace service lines. Denver Water is prioritizing communities who are most vulnerable and at-risk from lead exposure, particularly infants and children. Areas with large numbers of facilities that serve these populations, such as schools and daycares, will be prioritized. Other determining factors are areas with the highest concentration of lead service lines, underserved neighborhoods and coordination with other known construction activity.