City making progress on lead water service line replacement project
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) — The City of Lincoln is making progress on their lead water service line replacement project.
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird and Lincoln Transportation and Utilities director Liz Elliot held a news conference Thursday morning to provide an update on the project that began in July 2024.
The City has replaced 263 lead water service lines so far in the North Bottoms, Woods Park and Hawley neighborhoods for all property owners who chose to receive the service.
This summer, the City expanded the program to qualified property owners in portions of the Near South and Everett neighborhoods.
Crews will also continue scheduling and conducting replacements in portions of the Irvingdale, Capitol View and South Salt Creek neighborhoods this year and into 2026. Residents in these five areas still needing a service line replacement can schedule that work now on the City’s website.
Their goal is to assess and replace nearly 6,000 lead service lines in Lincoln by 2035.
“Our work to replace private lead water service lines at no cost to property owners protects our community members’ health and their pocketbooks as these improvements would otherwise cost homeowners thousands of dollars,” Gaylor Baird said.
Water service lines are smaller, privately owned pipelines that connect a home or business to the City’s public water main located under the street.
The City contacts property owners via mail and schedules in-home inspections prior to the work. A City-contracted plumbing company completes the replacement work. Property owners who have homes and businesses constructed primarily before the 1950s may be at risk of being lead or lead contaminated.
“By signing up for this program, it ensures your household or business has a safer, cleaner water service line for years to come. Replacing your own lead service line can cost a property owner up to $10,000. We encourage property owners to take advantage of this program while it’s active in their neighborhood,” Elliott said.
This project is part of the City’s Lead Safe Lincoln initiative, launched in 2022 to proactively prevent community members’ exposure to lead. The program is voluntary, and there is no cost to the property owners for the line replacement service.
The service line replacement project is part of a multi-year program made possible through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provided $32.6 million in federal loan funding to this program, and by partners at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy and the Lincoln City Council.
The lead replacement program is estimated to cost $55 million to replace the 6,000 service lines.
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