Expanding its record of providing data management and software solutions to state-wide and multistate programmes, 120Water’s platform has been selected to manage the service line inventories for more than 1,300 water systems across its home state of Indiana, US.
120Water’s solution comprises cloud-based software services and point-of-use kits, providing tailored workflows for complying with lead and water quality programmes to protect public health.
State procurement of the Public Water System (PWS) Portal, State Dashboard and Public Transparency Dashboard software grants all Indiana utilities access to 120Water’s tools designed to collect, store, manage, and report on lead service line inventory data in accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) and federal and state reporting requirements.
The LCRR requires utilities nationwide to compile a location-based inventory of lead service line materials by October 2024. As many water systems lack digital records or capabilities to track and submit inventories, this provision introduces significant time and resource burdens.
To remedy this, 120Water’s PWS Portal provides systems an intuitive, standardised tool to normalise, validate, and manage lead service line data before it is uploaded to the State Dashboard for ongoing compliance management.
The submissions are automatically validated upon CSV/Excel import, at which point the state will have the opportunity to publish the approved lead service line inventories to the Public Transparency Dashboard.
“As a rule, we believe good data leads to good programme management, and given the complexities and comprehensive nature of LCRR, a piecemeal approach to compliance is simply not possible,” said Megan Glover, co-founder and CEO of 120Water.
“A project of this magnitude requires holistic, long-term solutions, which we make it our mission to provide. 120Water is committed to developing and sharing innovative tools with water professionals, and we are thrilled to be the state of Indiana’s partner in this endeavour.”
Evaluated through an open request for proposal (RFP) with the Indiana Finance Authority (IFA) and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), 120Water was chosen as the state partner based on its experience running water quality programmes and building lead service line inventories for utilities of all sizes, its focus on continued innovation, and the current depth and breadth of collaboration with Indiana-based water systems and associations.
Scope of work begins immediately, and water utilities will receive preliminary guidance in early 2023.
According to 120Water, the updated PWS Portal was debuted in September 2022 at the National Rural Water Association’s (NRWA) WaterPro Conference, is commercially available and licensed in over 41 states, and is currently in use by nearly 500 public water system customers.
