U-M Startup Joins White House Partnership for Lead Service Pipe Removal Project

BlueConduit, a startup from Ann Arbor’s University of Michigan that helped accelerate the removal of dangerous lead pipes in Flint and many other communities, has joined a White House partnership aimed at replacing all the nation’s lead service lines in a decade.
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Rusty end faces of pipes
BlueConduit from U-M has joined a White House partnership to replace all the nation’s lead service lines in a decade. // Stock Photo

BlueConduit, a startup from Ann Arbor’s University of Michigan that helped accelerate the removal of dangerous lead pipes in Flint and many other communities, has joined a White House partnership aimed at replacing all the nation’s lead service lines in a decade.

Eric Schwartz, BlueConduit’s co-founder and an associate professor of marketing at U-M’s Ross School of Business, gathered last week with representatives of roughly 100 other organizations at a summit to launch the Biden-Harris Get the Lead Out Partnership.

The public-private initiative aims to expedite the removal of lead in drinking water — a problem that rose to national prominence when lead was discovered in Flint’s drinking water several years ago and spurred a public health crisis.

The summit featured discussions with federal, state, and local officials, as well as water utility, labor union and nongovernmental organizations on reducing risks to public health posed by lead pipes.

“BlueConduit’s mission focuses on using data science and innovation to enable and empower communities to get the lead out, efficiently and equitably,” says Schwartz. “This partnership is a crucial step in combating lead exposure in our country, multiplying our combined efforts to exponentially reduce the number of days families live with the risk.”

In December 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its Lead and Copper Rule Revision, which requires all U.S. water systems to develop lead service line inventories by October 2024. The EPA included BlueConduit’s work and predictive modeling in its Service Line Inventory Guidance.

The water analytics company originated the approach of using machine learning to predict the location of lead pipes and is working with cities to help meet their inventory deadline. Michigan cities that have joined the effort are Flint, Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Benton Harbor.

BlueConduit began lead pipe predictions in 2016 in Flint. Its software has supported over 100 communities in the U.S. and Canada to reduce the number of days residents live with the risk of lead exposure.

“It’s estimated there are 6 to 12 million lead pipes carrying water to millions of people, but finding exactly where the lead pipes are has been a massive challenge. It can take cities years to find and replace them, costing tens of millions of dollars,” says Schwartz.

BlueConduit also announced it is building a lead service line inventory and will publish it this year as an open-sourced, nationwide map. This mapping will enable utilities to locate lead lines more accurately, boosting the speed and reducing the cost of pipe replacement.