AI Speeds Cities’ Lead Pipe Search With EPA Deadline Weeks Away

Detroit is among a few cities using a new artificial intelligence-driven tool to find lead drinking water pipes, saving the city millions of dollars and helping it in its scramble to meet the EPA’s Oct. 16 inventory deadline.

BlueConduit, which was founded by University of Michigan researchers working to solve the Flint water crisis, is hoping the LeadOut Map will make drinking water systems better equipped to replace lead service lines more efficiently and at lower cost.

The technology, which uses data from the Environmental Protection Agency ...