120Water Announces Newark, NJ, as the First Recipient of Annual Excellence Award

Newark aggressively replaced 24,000 lead service lines in three years to receive the award

ZIONSVILLE, Ind. and NEWARK, N.J. (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — 120Water, the leading solutions provider for lead program compliance and water quality data management, announced Newark, NJ, as the recipient of their first annual Excellence Award for the completion of its lead service line (LSL) replacement program. Newark partnered with 120Water and engineering firm CDM Smith to locate, replace and remediate nearly 24,000 public and private LSLs in under three years to ensure residents have clean, safe, and reliable drinking water.

“We are proud to be a partner with Newark, NJ and the rest of the replacement team to manage the city’s post-replacement sampling due to our vast experience managing lead remediation programs,” said Megan Glover, CEO of 120Water. “Newark has achieved ambitious lead service line replacement goals in unprecedented time, establishing their program as a model for many others to follow over the decades to come.”

With the passage of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill in 2021, cities can tap into $15 billion earmarked to replace LSLs and meet the mandates of the Lead and Copper Rule Revision (LCRR) that went into effect at the end of last year.

Newark began its LSL replacement program in 2019 with the goal of replacing all public and private LSLs that deliver drinking water to residents in 10 years, at no cost to homeowners.

Lead Service Line Replacement programs are complex by nature. Newark’s program was compounded by their aggressive timelines for replacement and the sheer volume of communications required with residents and members of their community to fully replace both the public and private side of the service line.

120Water supported Newark’s LSL program in the following key areas:

• Launching a public education program called “The Newark Way of Thinking & Drinking” aimed at educating residents about the LSL replacement program, the actions residents can take to reduce their exposure to lead in drinking water and to increase the rate of return of water testing kits.
• Communicating with residents using a variety of tactics designed to build engagement and educate the public on the value of the program and how to accurately take and return samples.
• Mailing water testing kits to residents six months after an LSL was replaced.
• Testing water samples for the presence of lead. The results were loaded into the 120Water platform and made available to key stakeholders in the program.

To commemorate the success of this project, 120Water is recognizing Newark Water as the 2021 recipient of the 120Water Excellence Award. This inaugural award will be presented each year to a 120Water customer that goes above and beyond to protect public health through their water quality programs.

120Water will be presenting Newark Water with the award at a press conference on Friday, February 11. The press conference will take place in Newark at 11 am EST, where the city will be announcing the removal of their final lead service line.

“120Water is honored to be among the partners on this replacement program,” said Glover. “We can’t think of a community more deserving than Newark, NJ to receive the first-ever 120Water Excellence Award. We commend city leadership on their ability to rally all stakeholders to accomplish this project so quickly, including working with the state, Essex County, and the city council to find creative solutions to funding and to overcome logistical challenges. This was a true team effort, and we are grateful to be part of that team.”