Flint officials expect the city’s pipe replacement program will ramp up in the month of June.
The city is removing lead and galvanized service lines connecting Flint homes and businesses to city water mains – and replacing them with copper pipes.
Mike McDaniel oversees Flint’s pipe replacement program. He says digging up the pipes is time consuming, especially when crews discover a copper pipe is already in place.
Next month, McDaniel hopes to start using specialized equipment to drill small holes to check to see whether the pipes in the ground are lead or copper. He says that should speed the process up.
“That’s a priority for me to do that as soon as possible,” says McDaniel.
McDaniel’s goal is to replace more than 40 service lines a day. That will enable the city to replace 6,000 service lines this year.
Flint is using federal money to replace 18,000 service lines over the next three years.
