Fairfax Water is on track to fully eliminate the last lead pipes from its network in advance of a 2027 federal deadline.
“We’ll have them replaced by the end of the year,” Fairfax Water general manager Jamie Bain Hedges said at a meeting yesterday (Tuesday) between the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and water authority board members.
Fairfax Water, which is autonomous from the county government but is overseen by a board appointed by county supervisors, has just over 290,000 service lines. Currently, only 15 remain that are lead-based.
Concentrated in the Belle Haven community, those remaining pipes will be removed as part of water-main replacement projects in coming months.
Also in coming months, Fairfax Water officials will finalize a determination of the materials used in another 16 pipes. If found to be lead-based, those also will be replaced.
That will allow Fairfax Water to meet requirements of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency edict, which set a November 2027 deadline, Hedges told supervisors.
Under EPA regulations updated in 2023, water systems nationally were required to provide an inventory of service lines made with lead and unknown materials by October 2024. Providers were required to then develop a replacement plan.
According to the EPA:
“There is no safe level of lead in drinking water. Exposure to lead in drinking water can cause serious health effects in all age groups, especially pregnant people, infants — both formula-fed and breastfed — and young children.”
Water systems also were required to identify customer-owned pipes that contained lead or galvanized iron, or were of unknown materials.
To meet the EPA requirements, Fairfax Water launched a “Lead Free Fairfax” program in 2024 that focused on identifying the materials used in all pipes throughout the system, which serves approximately 2.2 million people across Northern Virginia. Only three lines were found to be constructed of lead, with 115 more of an unknown type.
Philip Allin, who chairs the Fairfax Water board and serves as Sully District representative, said the agency works to ensure all drinking water it distributes is safe.
“It’s a responsibility we take very seriously,” said Allin, who has served on the body since 1992.
Finally eliminating lead piping “will make a huge difference,” said Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck.
“We’ve known for hundreds of years” of the dangers of lead pipes, said Storck, who represents the Belle Haven community.
The June meeting of the two boards represented something of a last hurrah for Hedges, who has been general manager of the water authority since 2021 and has been on its staff for 36 years. She is retiring in the coming months.
“Jamie’s loss is a big one,” Board Chair Jeff McKay said.
McKay has faith, however, in the Fairfax Water leaders who will be running things going forward, he added.
“We have the people and the infrastructure to be successful,” McKay said.
