Department Of Water Management Announces Funding For Lead Pipe Replacement

The City of Chicago has announced a new loan from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the replacement of lead pipes across the city. The loan is a continuation of an ongoing effort to replace a majority of the city’s pipes built before 1986, which have a high likelihood of being lead within smaller buildings. The work will be led by the Department of Water Management with the loan being finalized this past Friday.

Led pipes in various stages via EPA

Lead has been a long term issue for the city and many others across the nation, with over 12.8 million pipes nationally. Lead service pipes are made of the soft and malleable metal as it was preferred by manufacturers for being more flexible and longer lasting than iron. Since it had been used for plumbing historically, which is where lead’s chemical symbol of Pb comes from, its adverse effects have been known for decades prior to its 1980s ban.

Now Chicago is the largest concentration of these pipes in the country, with over 400,000 of them across the city. Currently the city has managed to replace around 3,800 lines with new copper pipes as each one costs anywhere from $15,000 to $30,000 to do so. Thus the funding will go towards replacing nearly 30,000 more of them, hoping to hit the goal of 8,000 in 2024. Some of the dollars will also be used to back pay for this year’s work which depended on the money.

Lead vs copper pipes via Utah Department of Environmental Quality

While no specific areas have been determined for the replacement, most citizens can check the status of their own pipes on the city website. Further information on lead pipes and paint can be found here. The current efforts were started under Mayor Lori Lightfoot, though only roughly 280 pipes were replaced, this will now be revamped under Johnson with a focus on child day cares first.

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