On Thursday, the Biden Administration and the EPA announced their requirement for water systems across the country to replace all lead services lines within the next 10 years. It’s an effort to try and reduce lead exposure which is known to pose a health risk. 

“When you think about drinking water if there's a lead pipe that's a single source of exposure so if we get the lead out we can really protect the drinking water for all Americans,” Radhika Fox the EPA Assistant Administrator said. 

Lead can harm mental and physical development in children. It can also cause increased blood pressure, heart disease, decreased kidney function, and cancer.

The City of Youngstown has nearly 12,000 lead pipes, some of them are beneath the road on Mahoning Avenue. Nick D’Alesio, the city’s Water Quality Compliance Coordinator said the lead levels in those pipes are not deemed concerning according to the current EPA standards. 

“We test the water every day and there really hasn't been any issues,” D’Alesio said about lead levels. 

However, the city was already planning to get rid of all lead pies by 2050. With the deadline now moved up they’re confident they’ll meet it with more manpower. 

“Our goal is to have a lead service line replacement crew and that’s what they’ll focus on … efficiencies will be there, the equipment will be there and we'll be able to one and a half times our services,” D’Alesio said. 

Finding the funding will be the difficult part for Youngstown. President Joe Biden's $50 Billion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law offers some options. 

“A lot of those resources, about half of them, are dedicated for underserved communities which are often smaller communities,” Fox said. 

The Youngstown Water Department has already secured grants and loans for the lead pipe removal but they’re expecting to have to take from the general fund for some of the rest. 

“We’re planning 350 thousand (dollars) roughly to start our own capital,” D’Alesio said. 

Aqua Ohio, has 151,000 water connections throughout the state. None of its main water lines are made of lead. Jeff La Rue, an Aqua Ohio spokesperson, said sometimes they come across service lines - which run from the main line to the meter of someone's house - that are made of lead. He told 21 News every time they come across that they have been replacing them.

“For years, when we've encountered those lines we've replaced the portion we own and notified the customer that they may want to replace their portion,” La Rue said. “We're actively inventorying those smaller service lines and will have a plan to replace those discovered to be lead well before the deadline.”

The mandate by the administration only applies to service lines that run from the main line to the house's meter. Lines that homeowners are responsible for won’t have to be changed even though water systems recommend switching them out.