Lead pipes were once widely used in plumbing because of the metal’s low melting point and durability. However, lead exposure can cause developmental problems, cardiovascular issues, and organ damage. The federal government banned new lead pipes in 1986, but millions of lead service lines remain in service to this day.
Chicago has the highest number of lead water service lines in the nation. An estimated 412,000 out of 491,000 service lines are at least partly made of lead or contaminated with it. Chicago has a plan to replace all its lead service lines, put in place in response to a Biden-era EPA mandate, but the work is not expected to be complete until 2076.
The lengthy timeline will expose many more children and adults to the risk of toxic drinking water, and rising temperatures from the warming climate may exacerbate the risk by causing more lead to leach off of pipes and into water. Lead is particularly harmful to children and experts emphasize that there is no safe level of lead exposure.
The biggest problem, of course, is financial. The $15 billion in national lead service line replacement funds from the bipartisan infrastructure law will expire next year.
In Chicago, majority Black and Latino neighborhoods bear the biggest burden of lead pipes. Some 90% of these areas have lead service lines. And lead pipes are also common within homes. Just replacing the private side of home pipes can cost tens of thousands of dollars, far outside the means of most homeowners.
Chicago’s lead pipes are a serious problem.
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Chicago Has a Huge Lead Pipe Problem—and We Mapped It
Photo, posted March 19, 2015, courtesy of Conal Gallagher via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio
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