THE MUNICIPAL
By Anne Meyer Byler
Chad Regalia, chief engineer of Racine Water and Wastewater Utilities, reported that the city of Racine, Wisc., has been replacing public portions of lead service lines for about 10 years. The city has been funding the replacements by setting aside $250,000 per year through water rates for nearly 20 years.
In October 2016, a three-year state-funded program began providing Racine’s homeowners a rebate to help pay for their ends of the lead service lines delivering public drinking water to their homes.
How it Works
Homeowners hire plumbers, and the program pays them $2,500.
Regalia said that since it typically costs about $2,500 to $3,000 for replacement of the private lead service lines, the cost to the homeowner is minimal compared to the overall replacement cost.
For 2017, Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has apportioned $500,000 to Racine based on the size of its utility, number of its customers and an estimated 10,000 lead service lines serving 34,000 customers that likely need replacing.
Robin Schmidt, environmental loans section chief, said, “Basically, municipalities are eligible for this program and there are several options for how they choose to implement the program.”
A Struggle Getting Racine Residents to Replace Lead Laterals
Educating homeowners that the city has made money available for private lead service lines replacement has been a challenge, however.
“People may not want to mess up their basement or front yard,” Regalia said.
The city documents what the homeowners’ laterals are made of, and it will do complementary inspections to confirm if they have lead in their water.
Communicating the need to homeowners, even with limited funding available, has been like “pulling teeth,” said Keith Haas, general manager of Racine Water and Wastewater Utilities.
Prioritizing Lead Service Lines Replacement
Regalia said that when the city replaces a public lead service lateral, the private end becomes higher priority.
“If the lead service is leaking, we want to use the money to fix the leak.”
Regalia said the utility is not sure if the DNR funding will be available in 2019 and 2020. He also noted that the city’s pilot program may not replace all 10,000 private lead service lines that might exist in its system.
Assuming 10,000 lead services in the public right of way, and another 10,000 on private property, it could cost the city $50,000,000 to replace the public lead service lines and another $20,000,000 for those on private property.
At a rate of $250,000 per year in our budget, it would take 200 years,” said Haas.
Haas added that when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency passed the lead and copper rule, the city knew dealing with lead in the distribution system was going to be a major funding challenge.
Access the original story on The Municipal’s website.
Learn more about DNR’s Private Lead Service Line Replacement Funding Program.
