Augustana students, faculty, and staff at the Port Byron Village Hall during the June 13 canvassing event
ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS (July 31, 2024) — Seventeen Augustana College student research assistants are assisting with the inventory of water service lines in the village of Port Byron, Illinois.
Student research assistants are working with Augustana's Center for the Advancement of Community Health and Wellness and Upper Mississippi Center to assist residents in identifying and reporting if their service line is copper, galvanized or lead.
Augustana students canvassed 300 Port Byron homes on June 13, with the project expected to continue through Sept. 1.
The college first engaged in a partnership with the city of Rock Island in July 2022 to identify and inventory lead water-service lines in the city. Both the Port Byron and Rock Island projects are in compliance with the Lead Service Line Replacement and Notification Act, the Illinois law adopted in 2022 which requires cities to inventory lead service lines, implement replacements and coordinate financing strategies to fund the work.
Participating students include:
Dakota Serra, of Port Byron (61275)
Hannah McKoon, of Geneseo (61254)
Aiden Zoller, of East Moline (61244)
Augustana College is a vibrant, welcoming liberal-arts college located on a 115-acre campus in the Quad Cities (pop 400,000) along the Mississippi River. Augustana, a residential campus, has 100 majors and programs, 160 student organizations, and 28 varsity athletic teams.
The college enrolls 2,500 students in a metro area that provides access to many career-paths and hands-on learning opportunities, including internships, jobs, student teaching, and research sites.
