How Many Lead Service Lines Are In Milwaukee Wisconsin

Lead service lines replaced by the Milwaukee Water Works with corrosion control visible in pipe. Image from Milwaukee Water Works.

Atomic number 82 service lines replaced past the Milwaukee Water Works with corrosion control visible in pipe. Image from Milwaukee H2o Works.

The Milwaukee Water Works (MWW) continues to replace — slowly — the more than 75,000 lead service lines that connect homes and businesses to the metropolis's water supply.

Since Jan 1st, 2017, nether iii unlike scenarios the city-owned utility has mandated replacement of both the publicly-owned portion of the lateral that connects to the h2o main under the street and the privately-owned portion that connects to the building. When either portion has a leak or interruption, the unabridged pipe must be replaced. Similarly, if the utility disturbs or disconnects a lead lateral as part of work in the street, the unabridged thing is required to be replaced. The tertiary scenario includes who is using the lateral: as office of the 2017 budget city officials funded a program to replace all 385 lead service lines in use at child-intendance facilities in the city.

"The goal is to remove all [lead] sources from the community," said utility superintendent Karen Dettmer in a presentation Tuesday to the Common Quango's Public Works Committee. "There is no safe exposure to lead." The 3 primary sources of lead poisoning are paint, h2o and soil.

The 2019 Milwaukee budget includes $12.4 million to fund the replacement of approximately 1,000 service lines. The city caps belongings owners' out-of-pocket replacement toll at $1,600 spread over 10 years in the result of a break, while it spends $10,683 per lateral to pay contractors to supervene upon the lead pipe with a copper one.

Lead service line replacement details. Image from Milwaukee Water Works.

Lead service line replacement details. Paradigm from Milwaukee Water Works.

Since Jan 1st, 2017, MWW has contracted for the replacement of 1,893 laterals. Of those, 1,248 (66 pct) were the result of a leak, 408 were in child-care facilities (22 per centum), 167 were the result of water main work (9 percent), 63 were owner initiated (3 percent) and vii the outcome of other utility piece of work.

Most were replaced in 2017 and 2018, while 362 of them were done through June 30th of this year. "By the next semi-annual written report nosotros anticipate beingness much closer to that goal of ane,000 for 2019," said Dettmer, which would bring the total completed to date to nearly 2,500. "We feel that nosotros are on rails to do that." She said several water main replacement projects would add hundreds to the total.

The per-unit costs the urban center is charged past contractors through a bidding process are likewise falling. "We are slowly seeing those become downwardly," said Dettmer. "We anticipate those numbers to level out right around $x,000, hopefully a little less." Dettmer said a new contractor that has begun bidding could further reduce the cost.

There won't exist any shortage of work.

A lot of pb service lines remain, particularly in homes built prior to 1950. Approximately 45 per centum of the properties connected to MWW have a lead service line. At that place are 75,403 with known lead service lines in Milwaukee, including seventy,410 in residential properties. An additional 4,993 lead laterals are in commercial, industrial or publicly-owned buildings.

Corrosion Control Handling

Lead water test results. Image from the Milwaukee Water Works.

Lead water examination results. Image from the Milwaukee Water Works.

The metropolis has relied on a corrosion control treatment since 1996 consisting primarily of orthphosphate that coats pipes to prevent lead leaching into water from service lines and interior fixtures. That process, which has reduced lead level readings past over 60 percent co-ordinate to metropolis reports, volition be re-evaluated later on new guidance was issued by the Environmental Protection Agency.

"We are going to test new treatments, culling treatments," said MWW water quality manager Lucas Beversdorf. "Nosotros program to get a third party to really look at this fresh from the outside," said Dettmer. The process was previously reviewed in 2002 and 2016.

Beversdorf told the quango that MWW continues to struggle with participation in a gratis, voluntary program to test pb levels in h2o before and after a service line replacement. Of the approximately 10 pct of property owners that have participated, a statistically significant reduction in lead levels is plant on samples drawn after the water has been running long enough to clear the water sitting in internal pipes.

Based on the study results, MWW additionally recommends replacing aging metallic pipes and fixtures that could contain lead solder. Copper plumbing was allowed to comprise atomic number 82 solder until 1986 and is another contributor to h2o-borne pb alongside lead laterals.

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Related Legislation: File 190538

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