If your Chicago home was built before 1986 and the plumbing hasn’t been updated, you may be one of the city’s 400,000 residents with lead water pipes and service lines. This means there might be unsafe levels of lead in your home’s tap water, which can lead to serious health issues for you and your family.
Fortunately, the city of Chicago is aware of this public health crisis, and a recent EPA plan has set a goal of replacing all lead water service lines in the country as soon as possible. Chicago has secured millions for this project through the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA), and there are incentives to help low-income Chicagoans affordably replace their lead service lines. Unfortunately, the ten-year goal is proving a little too ambitious, and many residents may still be waiting decades for new, safer service lines.
But if you have the necessary funds to cover the costs yourself instead of waiting for the Chicago Department of Water Management to do it, you could improve your home’s water quality sooner. Keep reading to learn more about replacing lead plumbing in Chicago.
Key takeaways
It typically costs $1,865–$4,850 to replace a service line in Chicago (not including permit fees, which you can apply to have waived in Chicago).
Lead pipes and service lines are common in homes built before 1986 and can lead to hazardous lead in your drinking water.
There are several city-funded replacement programs to help Chicago homeowners replace their lead service lines affordably.
How much does it cost to replace lead pipes in Chicago?
On average, replacing a service line costs between $1,865 and $4,850. Replacing all the piping in a home, on the other hand, can be much more expensive, sometimes costing as much as $12,000. The exact costs will depend on how much lead piping your home has and how difficult the pipes are to access. To get an exact quote, you’ll need to call a plumber out for an inspection.
How to tell if your home has lead pipes
In Chicago, Illinois, there are roughly 400,000 lead service lines connecting homes to the city’s water main. These unsafe service lines are primarily located in single-family homes and two flats built before 1986 in the city's south and west sides. If this all describes your home, you could very well have lead pipes in your home’s plumbing.
Even if your home doesn’t perfectly fit this description, your water system could still be shedding lead into your tap water if it’s over forty years old.
Luckily, there are a few ways to definitively determine if there are lead pipes in your home:
Contact your water utility provider to check their records for your home’s plumbing.
Examine your pipes yourself or hire a plumber to come out and inspect them for you.
Test the water coming from your taps for lead content. The city of Chicago offers free water test kits to its residents.
If any of these testing methods reveal that your home’s water system has lead components, it’s time to call a plumber to discuss replacement. In the meantime, you should only drink and cook with bottled water and run your taps for several minutes to flush your system before showering and washing your dishes.
Why you should replace lead pipes
There is no safe amount of lead consumption. Even a small quantity of this heavy metal in your drinking water can cause serious health problems. These include brain damage, certain cancers, strokes, heart attacks, and other cardiovascular issues. Therefore, it is essential that you protect yourself and your household from lead poisoning by replacing lead plumbing as quickly as you can.
Lead service line replacement programs in Chicago
To help combat the widespread lead service line issue, the city of Chicago has implemented several programs that can help residents get discounted or free replacements for lead service lines.
The eligibility for each of these programs varies, though. It’s also worth noting that because of how many people need a new service line in the city, Dr. Andrea Cheng, Chicago’s Department of Water Management Commissioner, estimated the process could take 40 years or more.
However, it’s still worth it to see if you’re eligible for one of these programs and get an estimate of how long it will take for the city to get to your home.
Equity lead service line replacement program
If your household income is less than 80% of Chicago’s median income (which varies depending on household size), then you could get your lead service line replaced for free through Chicago’s equity lead service line replacement program. This service will also come with a free water meter.
You can apply for the program online, but limited funds mean some applications might not be handled until 2025.
Homeowner-initiated replacement program
With this program, you can apply for a waiver covering the permit fees for a lead service line replacement for which you’ve hired an independent contractor (instead of getting one replaced for free through one of the other programs). You can apply for this program online.
If you’re worried about lead in your home’s water and you don’t want to wait for the city to replace your service line, this might be the best option for you and your household.
Breaks and leaks replacement program
If your lead service line breaks on the side owned by the city, the City of Chicago will replace it for free. To apply for this program, call 311 as soon as you notice a leak in your service line.
Block-long replacement program
The Department of Water Management will also replace lead service lines affected by its routine maintenance of old water mains. You don’t need to do anything to be enrolled in this program. If the city conducts significant work on your block’s water system and your home’s service line is impacted, the city will replace it.
Replacing your lead service line
You now know about the risks of lead exposure, how to identify lead pipes, and what replacement programs are available in Chicago. The next step is contacting a local plumber to discuss your options in more detail.
Lead pipe replacement in Chicago FAQ
Yes, lead is a toxic substance that has been proven to cause various health problems like brain damage, cancer, and heart attacks. If you know that you have lead pipes in your home’s plumbing, your entire household is at risk of lead poisoning, and you should get the pipes replaced as soon as possible.
No, boiling water will not remove lead from it. It will only concentrate it into a more potent dose as the water evaporates out. Additionally, hot water from a tap is more likely to contain lead than cold water. Instead, you should only drink and cook with bottled water and routinely flush your system. For more tips on how to avoid lead exposure, read this resource from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Homes built before 1986 are likely to have lead pipes and service lines, especially if they haven’t been significantly updated since they were built. If you know your home is this old, you should inspect all the pipes in your home and contact your city’s water management department to ask about your service line.
Joe is a home improvement expert and content specialist for Fixr.com. He’s been writing home services content for over eight years, leveraging his research and composition skills to produce consumer-minded articles that demystify everything from moving to remodeling. His work has been sourced by various news sources and business journals, including Nasdaq.com and USA Today. When he isn’t writing about home improvement or climate issues, Joe can be found in bookstores and record shops.