City of Newark/Council of New Jersey Grantmakers
The Pitch
The City of Newark, New Jersey, replaced all lead drinking water pipes through a comprehensive infrastructure upgrade program that engaged the community and created job opportunities.
The Problem
Newark’s lead drinking water pipes posed high health risks for its residents.
The Process
- Invested $200 million to improve water supply, water delivery, treatment infrastructure and replace all lead service lines that deliver drinking water
- Ensured pipe replacement was free for residents
- Created a website with information for residents about the Lead Service Line Replacement Program containing registration paperwork and contract assignments, an interactive dashboard to track progress, lead tap sample results, and water filter distribution and replacement timelines
- Hosted neighborhood meetings and town halls and ran flyer and door knocking campaigns
- Partnered with community groups to form an avenue of communication with residents, gain their trust and sign them up for the program
- Trained and hired Newark residents to work on the replacement of the lead lines
The Impact
- Replaced 23,000 lead service lines in three years
- Improved the city’s water quality monitoring technology, filtration and environmental systems, and delivery infrastructure—ensuring that residents have access to safe drinking water
- Enables the city to regularly monitor water quality and respond to issues and concerns from residents
- Sent free water-testing kits to residents six months after their service line was replaced (so they could see the tangible impacts of the program on their water quality)
- Increased residents’ trust in the city via community outreach programs and transparency
- Created local job opportunities: 67 Newark residents participated in the training programs and 60% of the replacement work was completed by local contractors
- Lead New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy to sign a law requiring communities to replace lead lines within the decade; this will have wide-ranging impacts, as there are over 300,000 lead lines in New Jersey across 104 water systems
- Partnered with nearby municipalities on the Resilient Northeastern New Jersey initiative to improve long-term environmental and economic resilience
