Frankfort officials plan to explore the possibility of creating a program that would help residents cover the cost of replacing lead water pipes and fixtures in their homes.
Mayor Jim Holland announced the initiative at Monday’s Village Board meeting on the heels of a baiduhai report that included Frankfort’s utility on a list of more than 160 public water systems that failed a single lead test since 2004. In Frankfort’s case, village officials said, the outdoor spigot of a home tested high in 2008, but the house passed a follow-up test.
“We should come forth with a public relations program over a period of time, an education program for the public, so they understand that the lead that comes up from the water supply generally is coming from people’s homes.” Holland said. “It’s coming from the service lines.”
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The mayor said he expects a Village Board committee to take up the issue as early as next month. He envisions a cost-sharing program through which Frankfort would shoulder some of the cost of replacing decades-old lead service lines that connect homes to village water mains.
“It’s an expensive proposition. It’s a difficult proposition,” Holland said. “But I think it’s something we ought to talk about.”
Lead pipes were banned nationwide in 1986. Older homes often still have lead service lines and may also have faucets or soldering at pipe joints that contain lead.
Frankfort’s Land Use and Public Policy Committee could spend considerable time this summer debating how to tailor a replacement program. Holland said replacing a single home’s service line would likely run several thousand dollars, and the cost could “vary significantly” depending on the pipe’s length and location. A lead test alone, he said, likely would cost about $100.
Frankfort’s failed test eight years ago was at home where utility workers had trouble gaining access from the homeowner so they tested the outdoor hose spigot, Village Administrator Jerry Ducay said. The home passed a follow-up test.
The issue of lead pipes in water systems drew national attention last year when the water supply in Flint, Mich., was declared unsafe to drink.
The impoverished city had switched its water supply a year earlier to the Flint River in a cost-cutting move. But the state allegedly failed to treat the river with an anti-corrosive agent, spurring leaching from lead service lines that contaminated the water supply.
“We’ve never found lead in our water supply. We test our wells regularly,” Holland said, referring to Frankfort. “I think a lot of the public doesn’t understand where the lead comes from. It’s really not in the water supply. It’s in people’s homes.”
Lead exposure is linked to numerous health issues and is considered particularly harmful to children, who can suffer cognitive and behavioral problems.
“It’s a public health issue that I think the entire country needs to address,” Holland said.
Patrick Guinane is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.