Milwaukee Has Removed 10,000 Lead Laterals

Crews replace a lead lateral at a home on W. Bruce St. Photo taken May 13, 2025 by Graham Kilmer.

Mayor Cavalier Johnson was on hand Tuesday as construction crews replaced the city’s 10,000th lead lateral.

The replacement represented a “milestone” as the city works to remove every lead service line in Milwaukee before a 2037 deadline set by the federal government.

“It’s a step towards our greater goal, which is ensuring that no child in Milwaukee is at risk of lead exposure through drinking water,” Johnson said.

The city still has approximately 65,000 lead pipes to go. Milwaukee Water Works (MWW) and the Department of Public Works (DPW) have made an effort to accelerate lateral removal in recent years, more than doubling the number of projects annually. After replacing more than 2,600 lead laterals in 2024, the city is shooting for approximately 3,500 in 2025.

The city was averaging approximately 1,000 lead service removals annually as recently as 2023, said DPW Commissioner Jerrel Kruschke, “But with the momentum we built and continued support from the mayor, the city Common Council, CDM Smith, our contractors and our residents, I’m confident we reach our goal.”

However, the city will need to further accelerate its pace in order to have all the lead service lines removed by 2037.

The deadline comes from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which provided significant funding for state and local governments to remove lead infrastructure under former president Joe Biden. A new federal Lead and Copper Rule will go into effect in 2027, triggering the 10-year timeline.

Much of the replacement funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed under Biden, from which President Donald Trump‘s administration has attempted to claw back funding.

“We’ll need further commitments from the federal government in order to fund these very necessary improvements on the ground in neighborhoods all over Milwaukee,” Johnson said.

Near the corner of S. 21st Street and W. Bruce St., crews worked to install a new pipe Tuesday for a home that was previously served by a lead lateral. The home was among those identified through the city’s equity prioritization program, which are identified using the area deprivation index, the incidence of local blood-lead levels among children under six and the density of lead service lines, said Patrick Pauly, MWW Superintendent.

Many lead service lines are found in low-income neighborhoods, where private owners have not invested in replacing the infrastructure. MWW has identified 15 neighborhoods for prioritization in 2025.

“We will replace flood service lines wholesale throughout these neighborhoods,” Pauly said.

MWW also runs an opt-in program, that allows homeowners to notify the city that they want their lead service replaced. The city manages all the contracting and adds the cost to the property owner’s tax bill over a period of 15 years.

The city also continues to run the original lead service replacement program, targeting infrastructure at child care centers, or locations where a pipe has failed or where public works projects, like paving or water main replacement are underway.