Press Conference: H2Ohio Lead Line Replacement Grant

November 21, 2025

H2Ohio Invests $500,000 in Columbus to Replace Lead Lines at Childcare Facilities
(COLUMBUS, Ohio)— Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) Director John Logue today announced a new partnership to replace lead and galvanized service lines at licensed childcare facilities served by Columbus Water & Power.
As part of Governor DeWine's H2Ohio initiative, Ohio EPA awarded $500,000 to the City of Columbus to prioritize the removal of lead service lines at daycares as part of the community's overall work to remove lead pipes citywide.
H2Ohio, developed in 2019 to improve water quality across the state, has funded similar projects in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Toledo with the goal of fully eliminating any risk of lead exposure at childcare facilities that look after children under the age of six, which is the age group most vulnerable to the impacts of lead.

Columbus is currently removing lead pipes at nearly 30 eligible childcare facilities with known lead or galvanized service lines. The city will also work to inventory water service lines at more than 100 additional daycares and will replace any lines that are discovered to be lead or galvanized.
According to the Ohio Department of Health, lead is most harmful to children under the age of six because their growing bodies take up lead easily. Lead can lower IQ, cause attention disorders, delay growth, impair hearing, and more.

Since 2019, Ohio EPA has provided funding for the removal of 16,000 lead service lines statewide, with an additional 30,000 lead service lines in the process of replacement. According to a recent inventory of 3.5 million water service lines in Ohio, approximately 9% are lead or galvanized pipes, 68% are not lead or galvanized, and the materials making up around 23% of pipes are not yet known. Ohio EPA’s Get the Lead Out Ohio program is working to remove lead in water and help public water systems in their efforts to replace lead service lines.