Aldermen OK lead pipe replacement plan

City homeowners to pay part of cost

The Milwaukee Water Works next year would begin replacing full lengths of lead pipes delivering water from street mains to residences to reduce residents' possible exposure to the toxic metal, under an ordinance the Common Council approved Tuesday.

The city's 2017 budget for the program starts an effort that might take a few decades to complete by funding up to 600 full lead lateral replacements out of the known 68,300 residential lead pipes that pose a health risk to the public.

On a 12-3 vote Tuesday, the council mandated replacement of privately owned lead pipe sections in an emergency failure or during water main construction projects when the publicly owned lead pipe section is taken out and substituted with copper or other nonlead pipes.

Lead water pipes, known as service lines or laterals, connect municipal mains to residences built before 1951.

The city owns the lateral from the water main to the property line; the property owner is responsible for the section between the property line and the residence.

The ordinance Council President Ashanti Hamilton and Ald. James Bohl sponsored requires full lead lateral replacements — both the public and private sections of pipe — when any portion of the line leaks or breaks, and during scheduled water main replacement projects in the same city block.

A residential property owner would pay up to $1,600, or no more than one-third of the cost of replacing the private section, if the work is done by a city contractor, under the ordinance based on a proposal made by Mayor Tom Barrett.

The owner's share of the cost could be paid over 10 years.

Bohl described the cost-

A residential property owner would pay up to $1,600, or no more than one-third of the cost of replacing the private section, if the work is done by a city contractor, under the ordinance.

sharing plan as an incentive to gain compliance from property owners.

"It's important to replace the full line" when work is done, Bohl said. Otherwise, the private side of the lead lateral remains a health risk, he said.

Milwaukee Water Works would use revenue generated by customer water rate payments to finance 100% of the cost of swapping out the cityowned lateral.

Property taxes would pay the remaining cost of replacing the private pipe.

Before this ordinance, the property owner was responsible for the full cost of replacing the privately owned lateral.

The expense is between $3,500 and $7,000, or more, depending on length of the pipe.

Aldermen Khalif Rainey, Mark Borkowski and Anthony Zielinski voted against the lead lateral ordinance.

Borkowski said the city should pay the full cost of replacing the private lateral.

The 2017 city budget includes $3.9 million for the lead service line replacement program.

The bulk of this spending, or $3.6 million, will cover costs of replacing the utility-owned portion of about 600 laterals.

The budget also covers expenses of providing water filters and bottled water for residents of properties where lead pipe work is being done next year.

An additional $2.6 million in state grants will pay costs of replacing lead laterals at 300 statelicensed day care centers and 300 residences in 2017.

Thousands affected

A recent review of property records and water accounts by the Milwaukee Water Works found lead laterals at 74,600 properties in the city. Fully 91.5% of those, or 68,300, are residential properties, according to the analysis.

About 54.2% of all residential properties in the city have lead laterals, and they are possible sources of lead contamination to a home's drinking water.

In September, Barrett urged property owners to install faucet filters capable of removing lead from drinking water as an interim step while the city studies a larger scale lead pipe replacement effort.

The Water Works in January of this year canceled five miles of water main replacement projects scheduled in older neighborhoods where lead pipes connect municipal mains to about 500 homes.

The decision was a precaution based on limited testing in 2015 that found cutting a lead lateral during water main replacement projects increased lead levels in tap water for up to four weeks after work was finished.

Milwaukee draws water from Lake Michigan, a source that does not contain lead.

The utility treats lake water to control corrosion of lead laterals and prevent contamination.

But lead can be released from laterals and some indoor faucets and water lines if water stands for several hours.

For that reason, the Water Works advises residents of older homes to reduce the risk of contamination by flushing a cold water faucet until it feels colder, especially if a faucet has not been used for six hours or longer, such as overnight.