BlueConduit and SimpleLab Team Up to Find and Remove Lead from U.S. Drinking Water
Collaboration combines predictive machine-learning technologies with the largest U.S. water quality testing and data platform
(Berkeley, CA) December 8, 2021—A new water quality alliance between BlueConduit and SimpleLab will enable water utilities and engineering consultants to meet their water testing requirements and inventory lead service lines through a more cost-effective and efficient process.
“BlueConduit and SimpleLab share aligned goals: protecting public health and increasing trust in tap water. Solutions to these challenges have remained stagnant for decades”, said Johnny Pujol, SimpleLab CEO. “Our teams have taken innovative steps to modernize water data, apply novel machine learning tools, and make water testing easier and cheaper. Collaboration now feels like a slam dunk.”
By integrating BlueConduit’s lead service line inventory management capabilities with SimpleLab water testing capabilities, utilities will now have access to a more seamless and automated solution for gathering required data and generating regulatory reports to comply with new federal and state rules.
Lead in drinking water is a concern for virtually every water utility and for millions of households across the United States. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates there are 6 to 10 million lead service lines in the country. Finding exactly where the lead service lines are and replacing them can cost cities tens of millions of dollars and take years. With its home-by-home predictive model, BlueConduit provides cities with a ranked list of addresses and regions of the city with the highest probability of having lead service lines, allowing cities to get the lead out faster and save money by avoiding unnecessary digs.
“BlueConduit’s machine-learning technology and data-driven approach is already helping water systems reduce the number of days people live with the risk of lead exposure, saving taxpayers and utilities money. The solution has helped the city of Flint, Toledo, Trenton, and Detroit, and dozens of others to save tens of millions of dollars,” said Eric Schwartz, co-founder of BlueConduit. “As service line inventory and testing tap water are two pillars of the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions, the BlueConduit-SimpleLab team provides a critical solution for addressing this nationwide environmental injustice and public health issue efficiently and cost-effectively.”
SimpleLab is the largest U.S. water testing and data platform for lead and other substances like per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals. Its customizable kits, which are for large-scale commercial testing or user-friendly residential home testing, ensure water utilities and engineering consultants address important health issues.
The BlueConduit and SimpleLab collaboration will support water systems in their compliance with changes in the U.S. EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule expected by the end of 2021.
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About SimpleLab
SimpleLab, Inc. is a water quality company headquartered in Berkeley, California. Operating a unique network with 100+ accredited environmental testing laboratories, SimpleLab offers fast, customizable test kits and water quality data services across North America. Beyond the award-winning residential testing kits, SimpleLab gives commercial clients affordable options to configure plug-n-play water testing programs– providing user-friendly configuration of design, logistics, sampling, lab testing, result reporting, and data privacy. SimpleLab is cited in numerous outlets, including The Economist, The Guardian, Consumer Reports and The Washington Post. Wirecutter of The New York Times ranked the SimpleLab home test kit service Tap Score as the “Best Water Quality Test Kit” for consumers.
About BlueConduit
BlueConduit is a water analytics company that has developed cutting-edge, predictive machine learning methods to locate lead service lines, empowering local officials with the information to efficiently remove those pipes. The company’s solutions enable utilities to focus their resources on digging where the lead is and accelerating the removal of this significant health concern and save millions of dollars in avoided digs. Since 2016, BlueConduit has worked with more than 50 municipalities and inventoried nearly 1 million service lines, which serve more than 2 million people. For more information, visit BlueConduit.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
CONTACTS:
SimpleLab inquiries: Kelly McCabe, press@gosimplelab.com
BlueConduit inquiries: Ashley Lewis, ashley@blueconduit.com
