Newport’s utilities department estimates that replacing lead service lines throughout the city will cost between $51 million and $105 million over the next decade. Officials say the project cannot be funded through water rates alone.
During a workshop presentation to the Newport City Council on Thursday, February 20, Utilities Director Robert Schultz Jr. explained that approximately 13-15% of the city’s water service lines contain lead components, primarily installed between the late 1800s and 1935.
Under Rhode Island’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Act, the city must replace these lines by 2033, though the law includes language making the timeline “contingent upon available funding.”
“The utility would be accepting all of it,” Schultz says regarding the cost. “There’s questions if we go back to the way the law is whether or not their intent was no cost to the property owner.”
The funding challenge has caught the attention of city councilors, with some suggesting the general tax base may need to help cover costs traditionally borne by ratepayers.
“If we don’t have a clear answer on how there’s going to be a ratepayer structure that’s going to pay for this…this needs to be part of our general CIP that the taxpayers are going to have to pay for,” said Councilor Xay Khamsyvoravong during the workshop.
Schultz noted that funding the entire project through water rates “would put our lower 20% of the customers at over 11% of their income for water and wastewater. And that’s not an affordable program.”
The highest concentration of potential lead service lines exists in Newport’s older neighborhoods, particularly along Broadway, with fewer instances in newer sections of Middletown and Portsmouth.
While no Newport schools currently have lead service lines, testing has revealed some elevated lead levels in fixtures like nurses’ sinks and unused kitchen facilities. The city is conducting comprehensive testing of all school and childcare facilities.
The discussion grew heated when one resident challenged the city’s testing protocols, citing her own home’s results showing lead levels increasing rather than decreasing after flushing water lines – contrary to typical expectations.
Schultz maintains that while zero lead is the goal, levels under 10 parts per billion (ppb) represent a “low risk profile.” The city uses 5 ppb as an internal trigger level for further investigation.
The utilities director emphasizes that statistical modeling could help accelerate the replacement timeline by three years and save “millions and millions of dollars,” but Rhode Island regulators have not yet approved this approach.
In the meantime, the city provides water filters and six months of replacement cartridges to affected properties as required by state law, though residents must cover filter costs after that period.
The city has applied for various federal and state funding sources but currently sits “in the bottom bucket” for many programs, according to Schultz, partly due to Newport’s reputation as a wealthy community.
Until a comprehensive funding solution emerges, officials recommend residents in potentially affected areas:
- Use only cold water for drinking and cooking
- Flush pipes for 3-5 minutes after water has sat for several hours
- Clean faucet aerators every few months
- Consider installing certified lead filters, especially for households with pregnant women or children
Residents can check their property’s lead service line status through an online map maintained by the utilities department, though officials note documentation requirements mean some properties may be listed as “unknown” even if unlikely to have lead components.
Department of Health unveils interactive map of lead drinking water pipes
The city plans to prioritize replacements starting with schools and childcare facilities, followed by 28 World War II-era lines containing 99.7% lead, properties with partial replacements, and overburdened communities.
The workshop can be viewed on the City of Newport’s website here.
What’sUpNewp took the following screenshots of the presentation.
