If Your Home Was Built Before 1947, Call Lee Mechanical for FREE Lead Service Line Replacement.

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If you own an older home in Kenosha, now is the time to contact Kenosha Water Utility and see if you qualify to replace your home’s lead pipes for FREE.

Kenosha has been awarded $1.95 million for a lead service line replacement, the first in the state to benefit from a new grant program through the Kenosha Water Utility.

The Kenosha Water Utility set up the grant system to help homeowners with the high cost of replacing the lead water service lines (laterals). Homeowners are responsible for the laterals from their homes to the property line, while the city maintains the pipes from the property line to the water main.

The Lead Service Line Replacement Program (LSRP) is a 100% grant to homeowners up to $6,000 for the cost of replacing the lead service lines. 

Lead pipe replacements typically cost between $3,500 and $5,000.

The Kenosha Water Utility decided to offer the lead pipe replacement grant program after it was discovered that lead pipes were leaching lead into the water at some homes in the city.

In 2017, the State of Wisconsin gave local governments and water utilities a new authority to provide financial assistance programs for customers replacing their private lead service lines. Before Act 137 was passed in 2018, these institutions were not legally allowed to use revenue from utility rates to provide funding for private lead service line replacements. 

The lead pipe grant program will help Kenosha residents replace their lead service lines and protect them from the health risks associated with lead exposure.

Why should lead service lines be replaced?

Some of the side effects of lead pipes include lead poisoning, which can lead to various health problems, including learning and behavior problems in children.  

According to the EPA, even low levels of lead in your drinking water can lead to these harmful side effects in children, pregnant women, and adults:

• Children
  • Behavior and learning problems
  • Lower IQ and hyperactivity
  • Slowed growth
  • Hearing problems
  • Anemia
• Pregnant Women
  • Reduced growth of the fetus
  • Premature birth
• Adults
  • Cardiovascular effects such as increased blood pressure, and the incidence of hypertension
  • Decreased kidney function
  • Reproductive problems (in both men and women)

“Our number one priority is to provide our customers with safe and clean drinking water, and this program will help us partner with those affected homeowners to ensure that happens,” said Alderman David Bogdala, Chairman of the Board of Water Commissioners.

“We’re honored to be the first city in Wisconsin to utilize this new funding mechanism,” said Ed St. Peter, general manager at Kenosha Water Utility, in the release. “To some, it may have just been another piece of legislation, but as a water utility, this allows us to completely fulfill our mission to provide and protect Kenosha’s greatest natural resource – WATER!!”

If you live in Kenosha and have a lead service line, we encourage you to take advantage of this program and replace your lead pipes as soon as possible.

Lee Mechanical is working with the grant program and the City of Kenosha to inspect and update pipes in residential homes.