Naperville aims to have all lead water service lines going into city homes and businesses replaced by 2029, far ahead of state and federal deadlines, according to the city’s director of water and wastewater.
When the 68 lead service line replacements being done this year are complete, there will be only 207 left to do – less than 1% of the city’s more than 42,000 water service lines, Darrell Blenniss said.
The replacement is part of broader state and federal initiatives governing lead service lines, which are the pipes that connect a municipal water main to a residence or business.
Last October, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that all drinking water systems must have their lead service lines replaced by 2037. Those lines have the potential to release harmful particles into water that’s used for drinking and cooking.
Prior to the federal mandate, Illinois passed its own regulations in 2021 for lead service line removal. For municipalities with less than 1,200 lead lines, which includes Naperville, the deadline was 2042.
Blenniss said the city will easily comply with both mandates long before either deadline.
Naperville’s Lead Service Line Replacement Program covers the cost and labor involved in replacing lead service lines at residential properties, he said. Two years ago the city began accruing money through fees collected as part of residents’ water bills to pay for the work.
With $1 million earmarked annually in the city’s long-range capital improvement budget, Naperville can meet a goal off removing between 65 and 80 lead service lines every year over the next five years, Blenniss said.
The program overall has had a very high participation rate, he said. Of the 207 lead service lines that still need to be replaced, about 85% of the property owners have already signed agreements giving the city access to their property, he said.
“It’s pretty intensive work. We have to drill into the foundation,” Blenniss said. “What we’ve done is we’ve gone out to the site, talked to the individuals and explained the program. … And if they refuse to allow us on private property, we can’t force them, obviously, to do that.”
If the property owner refuses to allow the work to be done, the city will do as much as it can from the public side and will submit a form to the state explaining the efforts they undertook, he said.
“We’re paying 100% today so it’s the best opportunity to get that (line) replaced at the lowest impact to (to the property owner),” Blenniss said.
There are 28 service lines where staff does not know what kind of material the pipe is made of, he said. He’s confident the city will be able to figure it out between now and the end of the year, he said.
The use of lead pipes for water service lines used to be the standard. In 1936, Naperville passed an ordinance requiring all water service lines be made of “extra strong lead pipe.” Twelve years later, that rule was amended to allow the use of both copper and lead pipes.
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That thinking changed over the years. Naperville banned the use of lead pipes in 1960 and the federal government followed suit in 1986.
Lead exposure, even at low levels, can pose a multitude of health risks, including increased blood pressure, decreased kidney function and reproductive issues in both men and women, according to the U.S. EPA. Low levels in children can result in behavior and learning problems, anemia, slowed growth, hearing problems, and lower IQ and hyperactivity, the EPA says.
Because of the 1960 ban, most of the remaining lead service lines in Naperville are located in older sections of the city, such as those close to downtown, and a majority are in residential areas.
Previously, the city had a policy that lead service lines would be replaced as they came across them and with the cooperation of the property owner.
In 2022, for example, a water main replacement project allowed them to remove lead service lines in several neighborhoods. Between 2020 and 2024, 221 lead service lines were replaced.
Naperville is in an enviable position compared to other older towns. In Elgin, only about 2,800 of its approximate 10,000 lead service lines have been replaced. Officials estimate removing all of them will end up costing about $150 million.
In south suburban Homewood, there are about 3,700 lead service lines to be replaced. A $4.1 million loan from the state will cover the cost of only about 260 of them, officials said.
While most people in Naperville with lead service lines are on a city waiting list for replacement, anyone who wants the work done more quickly can pay for it themselves and receive a rebate from the city. Rebates are either $4,250 or $2,550, depending on which side of the street the water main is located.
More information on the rebate program is at www.naperville.il.us/services/water-utility/your-water-service/water-quality.