Missouri-based Public Water Supply District No 2 of St. Charles County Selects Electro Scan for Water Inventory Services

Only Commercially Available Innovative Solution That Finds Lead Drinking Water Pipes, Without Digging, Conducts First Project in Missouri

SACRAMENTO, CA, UNITED STATES, August 12, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Public Water Supply District No. 2 of St. Charles County, Missouri, in partnership with St. Louis‑based Cole & Associates consulting engineers, has launched a new lead detection initiative to meet U.S. EPA Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) requirements, in coordination with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

During a December 2024 EPA webinar, Simoni Triantafyllidou, Ph.D., Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, stated that electrical resistance is "essentially the only technology currently available" for lead service line detection, distinguishing it from other methods still in development.

This finding was presented alongside an EPA readiness-level table, where electrical resistance was the sole technology shown as commercially deployed.

“Leveraging SWORDFISH allows us to inventory service line materials efficiently and accurately—without the need for excavation,” said Cole & Associates leadership. “This aligns seamlessly with EPA’s LCRI intent and the Missouri DNR directives.”

“Public Water Supply District 2 is committed to transparency and high-quality water service,” said a District spokesperson. “This initiative furthers our dedication to public health by identifying legacy lead service lines quickly and responsibly.”

Recently, homeowners where service line materials are unknown, recently received an Unknown Service Line Notice about their inventory requirement.

Project Overview
Electro Scan Inc.’s handheld SWORDFISH technology will be deployed by Cole & Associates to inventory buried service lines for possible lead content—without excavation. The project addresses EPA‑mandated timelines for utilities under the recent LCRI framework. Like +40,000 water suppliers in the United States, the District has until November 1, 2027, to complete updates for all its unknown materials or risk requiring their replacement over a ten year period.

Letters were sent to water customers on August 8, 2025, with appointment scheduling to begin this week.

Field work to be conducted by Electro Scan's services team is scheduled to begin Monday August 25, 2025.

Key Benefits of SWORDFISH Technology
Non‑destructive & efficient: SWORDFISH uses low‑voltage conductivity sensing to automatically detect lead, galvanized steel, copper, and plastic pipe material within ½″ to 3″ service lines—up to 80 ft in a single survey—without the need for digging or disruption.

Developed under AWWA Manual M77 guidelines, SWORDFISH is machine‑intelligent and certified to assess electrical resistivity in real time; transmitting readings via BlueTooth^® to Electro Scan's Amazon Web Services (AWS) Critical H₂O cloud platform.

Lead detections are verified using swab test kits for 100% confirmation of lead.

SWORDFISH has earned industry recognition, including “Top Product of the Year” honors from Environment + Energy Leader for excellence in environmental technology.

By integrating SWORDFISH technology, District 2 and Cole & Associates are enabling a faster, safer, more cost-effective lead line inventory—aligning with both federal and state mandates while minimizing disruption to customers.

Last week, the Trump administration's U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it plans to defend the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) legislation in court requiring the near-total replacement of lead service lines by 2037.

That means, all +40,000 water utilities have until November 1, 2027, to provide an accurate inventory of their water service lines or face scheduling UNKNOWN pipes to be automatically scheduled for replacement.

About the District
Public Water Supply District No. 2 was organized in 1974, serving residents of St. Charles and parts of Warren County under permit issued to the District in O’Fallon, Missouri. Approximately 100,600 residents are supplied through District No. 2 service lines covering significant portions of St. Charles County, including the city of O’Fallon and surrounding communities The District also provides water services to roughly 40,000–45,000 households and business accounts, equivalent to the resident population coverage. Finally, the District draws primarily from groundwater (e.g. Well No. 1), supplemented by surface water from local rivers, lakes, reservoirs, ponds, and springs to ensure reliability and capacity The included map shows the approximate footprint of the District’s service area within St. Charles County, highlighting coverage across central and northern zones of the county's water network.

About Cole & Associates, Inc.
Based in St. Louis, Cole & Associates provides engineering oversight for municipal water infrastructure projects. The firm ensures compliance with regulatory frameworks and brings technical expertise to managing LCRI-driven inventories and upgrades.

About Electro Scan Inc.
Electro Scan Inc. is an innovator in machine-intelligent water pipe diagnostics. Its SWORDFISH tool represents the world’s first handheld buried lead pipe detection technology, capable of automatically identifying and differentiating between pipe materials using non-invasive electrical resistivity to accurately assess pipe materials with real‑time reporting through the company's Critical H₂O cloud platform.

Janine Mullinix
Electro Scan Inc.
+1 916-779-0660
email us here
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