More Top Picks Best Pottery Wheels For Beginners
player ready...A new approach to identify which Waukegan homes still need to replace aging lead water pipes with new copper connections will hopefully help the city accelerate the process ahead of a federally mandated 10-year timetable starting next year.
After three years of asking residents to voluntarily use a camera and technology to show the city whether the water service line in their home is lead, galvanized or copper, David Motley, the city’s public relations director, said identifying the pipe type is now a resident’s obligation.
Though the method of determining the pipe’s material remains take a picture of the pipe in the home and sending it to the city electronically, Motley said a lack of technological knowhow or equipment is no longer a barrier. An active education campaign is also underway.
“The homeowner can do the test and upload the photo to the city or they can give us a call and we’ll do it for them,” Motley said. “A city employee will come to their home and do the test.”
The City of Waukegan initiated its accelerated awareness campaign educating people on lead pipe replacement with flyers at the American Independence Parade June 29 and will have a table during Scoop Friday and Saturday in downtown Waukegan to let people know what to do.
Antonio Dominguez, the city’s director of water utilities who oversees the project, said funding for the 1,200 homes receiving new copper pipes so far comes from state and federal grants administered by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA).
Though specific homes must be identified, Dominguez said he estimates there are “close to 8,000 more” primarily east of Lewis Avenue between 10th Street and Greenwood Avenue. Grant funding will continue to be sought. Mayor Sam Cunningham said he intends to keep it that way.
“I firmly believe that every resident, regardless of their address, deserves equal access to clean, safe drinking water, Cunningham said in an email. “As we advance through the next phase of the citywide lead service line replacement program, we continue to aggressively pursue and secure state and federal funds, so the financial burden does not fall on the shoulders of local families.”
Meanwhile, the City of North Chicago received a $2.4 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and will soon start to identify approximately 900 homes which need to replace the lead service lines there.
When Waukegan first started identifying homes which needed lead service line replacement, there were public meetings to explain the program. Jonathan Flowers, a senior engineer with Robinson Engineering, which works closely on the project, said people from the company went door to door.
Initially, they were able to talk to people and show them what to do. When immigration enforcement activity by the federal government reached a peak last fall, Flowers said people were reluctant to come to the door.
Dominguez said members of the Waukegan City Council are now going door to door so residents are comfortable and will talk to them. With each ward containing approximately 10,000 people, people generally know their representative.
Most of the homes in need of lead pipe replacement are in the older parts of town. Some of the houses are more than 100 years old. Dominguez said hoes built after 1990 most likely have copper pipes and do not need replacing.
For the homes in older neighborhoods, Motley said mailers will be sent to the area to let people know about the program. There will be tables staffed by city personnel at events telling people about the program and letting them know there is no cost to them.
“We are doing a community awareness campaign,” Motley said. “The Aldermen are part of the awareness campaign. They’ll talk about it at ward meetings.”
Cunningham has knocked on doors in older neighborhoods where there are multiple benefits replacing the lead pipes sooner to pare “these water utility upgrades with the annual street resurfacing schedule to maximize efficiency while keeping neighborhood disruptions to an absolute minimum.”
“This block-by-block approach ensures that the oldest housing stock and most vulnerable neighborhoods are prioritized for relief,” he said. “As we rebuild Waukegan, we are modernizing the city’s infrastructure and protecting public health.”
With more IEPA grants in hand or anticipated, Flowers said a $10 million grant will enable pipe replacement in approximately 800 homes. Another $15 million grant is anticipated to get the work done on 1,200 more houses. The work will take place between this August and June, 2028.
Like Waukegan, North Chicago is using grant funding to spare residents or the city of the cost of the federally mandated program. Steve Cieslica, an engineer with Trotter & Associates, does the city’s engineering work. He said the initial funding will get the pipes changed for around 150 homes.
“We’re sending out flyers to let people know about it,” Cieslica said. “It’s free replacement. We’ll go door to door to tell people. We hope to do 200 each year until we get it done. We’ll start in August and finish around Christmas.”
More Top Picks Best Biometric Pistol Safes
As soon as 40 residents are committed to the project, Cieslica said the construction company will begin work.