Newark officials said they're almost done replacing the city's more than 18,000 underground water lines that were responsible for contaminating the tap water with lead since 2017.

"It's unbelievable to me sometimes," said Kareem Adeem, Newark's director of the water and sewer department. "We really got this done and we're really doing it, yes we are. Newark is the most innovative city in the country, Newark is always first, we're always leading the charge first."

Newark will be the first city in New Jersey to replace its entire lead service line inventory.

So far, 15,000 lead service lines have been replaced using funding from Essex County bonds. The milestone comes a year after the federal government force the city to temporarily hand out bottled water to residents. Residents who have not had their lead service lines replaced must still rely on a water filter to drink the water or cook with it. 

Kareem said all service lines will be replaced with copper by next spring.

State efforts to replace lead service lines in other cities have stalled due to economic restrictions caused by the pandemic.