EPA Awards $195 Million to Replace 45,000 Toxic Lead Service Lines in Great Lakes Cities

CHICAGO — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Monday the deployment of $195 million in dedicated Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) capitalization grants to accelerate the full excavation and replacement of more than 45,000 legacy lead water service lines in municipal water systems across the Great Lakes basin.

The funding, distributed to municipal water utilities in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin, prioritizes historically disadvantaged neighborhoods, child care facilities, and elementary school service districts where aging plumbing infrastructure poses elevated public health risks for childhood lead exposure.

Accelerating Nationwide Lead Elimination Under the EPA's finalized Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI), public water systems nationwide are required to inventory all lead service lines and achieve complete system-wide replacement within a mandatory ten-year compliance window.

"Access to safe, clean drinking water is a fundamental human right," EPA officials said in a statement. "For generations, children living in older industrial cities have been exposed to invisible neurotoxins through outdated lead pipes. Today's $195 million investment provides local water utilities with the direct capital needed to remove every lead pipe from the main line to the household meter at zero out-of-pocket cost to property owners."

Targeted Municipal Allocations Key metropolitan awards include:

• Chicago Department of Water Management: $70 million to replace 16,000 lead service lines in residential bungalows on the South and West Sides.
• Detroit Water and Sewerage Department: $45 million to replace 11,000 lead lines across inner-ring neighborhoods.
• Cleveland Division of Water: $40 million to replace 9,500 service connections.
• Milwaukee Water Works: $40 million to replace 8,500 lead laterals.

Municipal health departments reported that full service line replacements eliminate up to 99 percent of lead concentrations at household taps, significantly improving cognitive and developmental outcomes for young children.