Hastings Utilities Department to Replace Leading Service Lines in Community

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) – The Hastings Utilities Department is taking a proactive approach to replacing the community’s leading service lines.

Starting Friday, the Hastings Department of Public Utilities will be sending letters to residents who have at least some or all of their services lead. Part of the letter provides a contact phone number that residents can call to inquire about future demolition plans.

Now in the program’s third fiscal year, they are replacing lead service lines throughout the community.

Brandan Lubken, director of water supply and underground operations, said when they started the program, they were the lead water line.

“When we started, we had about 1,400 known water lines, and now we have about 1,100,” Lubken said. He explained that on Oct. 8, there is a 10-year mandate to get all the information out to communities if you have a municipal water system.

“We achieved this,” Lubken said. “We have been working year after year to remove all lead water lines from the community, and we are on track to do that.”

In addition, Lubken explained that one of their main goals in starting the replacement program was to figure out what to do with the aging infrastructure in Hastings.

“We’re replacing plumbing along with lead water services, and the reason we’re targeting lead is because of the new alliteration in the lead copper rule that went into effect in 2021,” Lubken said.

They hired a two-person team whose sole purpose is to replace the leading communications. “They have a drilling machine, a mini-excavator, and they install an inch-thick plastic line next to the line, so the outlet is taken out of service and the plastic line becomes their new service.”

The Hastings Utilities Department plans to replace major utility lines in the Eastside Boulevard and Garfield Avenue areas in the future. However, officials say there are no major concerns in Hastings, but their top priority is making the community safer.

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