Aging Infrastructure

Aging infrastructure is a nationwide challenge for water utilities as the equipment installed during the Works Projects Administration investments in the 1930s and the postwar boom of the 1950s reaches the end of its useful life.  Some of NKWD’s facilities and pipes were built before the 1900s.  The most recent EPA Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey reported $8.2 billion is needed to replace aging water infrastructure in Kentucky.  NKWD experienced an average of 362 water line breaks per year from 2018 to 2022 with an average of 28 breaks per 100 miles per year.  This is only slightly above the national average of 25 breaks per 100 miles per year.  NKWD works diligently to maintain a reliable supply of water supply for its customers.  NKWD maintains asset management plans to project useful life and plan for infrastructure replacement.  In the last 10 years, for example, the NKWD has spent $46 million to replace 64 miles of pipe.

In 2021, the USEPA issued a revised regulation which requires identification of materials used for service lines connecting all customers to the public water system.  NKWD anticipates many of the services lines (the pipe connecting a home to the water main) will be made of lead.  NKWD takes the issue with lead seriously.  Lead in drinking water is primarily from materials and components associated with home plumbing and water service lines.  The District adds a corrosion inhibitor that creates a barrier to prevent corrosion throughout the system.  Water does not contain lead when it leaves the NKWD’s treatment plants, and samples collected from customers’ homes for compliance monitoring did not show elevated levels of lead. To reduce the risk of potential lead exposure, USEPA recommends replacement of lead service lines.