Skokie faces $80 million price to switch pipes, maintain lead out of ingesting water in houses

Skokie officers and village workers are starting to confront the multi-decade, $80 million means of changing lead water pipes all through the village in accordance with a brand new state regulation.

Lead, which was a standard materials used for water service traces, is linked to well being dangers and developmental harm in kids, in addition to well being dangers in adults, in keeping with the Mayo Clinic and different sources. The Illinois Normal Meeting handed the Lead Service Line Alternative and Notification Act in 2021, which required full substitute of lead service traces and required water utilities to submit inventories of their recognized lead service traces and plans to switch them, amongst different provisions.

Village employees warned officers that the duty was huge and on par with the village’s substitute of its stormwater administration system, which Village Supervisor John Lockerby stated came about from the Seventies via the Nineties.

Public Works Director Max Slankard advised trustees Tuesday evening that taking a listing of the village service traces could be a significant endeavor in itself, and added residents can help by including data on the steel used of their service traces to the village web site.

Whereas the village has some knowledge on its service line supplies via meter checks, substitute data and previous resident reporting, Slankard warned that getting an entire image of the system could be a critical organizational raise.

“We’re going to need to provide you with a systematized means of working via areas block by block, and we’re going to need to do direct outreach as an alternative of appointments to get into the houses,” he stated.

In accordance with a memo from Slankard to village management, stock of the service traces in Skokie is simply over 40% full, accounting for 7,317 service traces. Of these traces, 3,524 had been lead. That leaves 10,350 service traces of unknown materials within the village.

Then there’s the associated fee. In accordance with Slankard’s memo, the price of full substitute in right now’s {dollars} is about $79 million over 34 years.

“That is clearly a problem of long-term monetary significance,” the memo states.

Lockerby advised trustees the brand new regulation is an unfunded mandate, which means that state authorities requires municipalities to do one thing however doesn’t present the funds to hold it out. Nonetheless, work to get some funding for the replacements is underway, he stated. He additionally acknowledged the general public well being targets behind the act.

“The village is respectful of the act and the intentions of the act and the general public well being intentions of the act,” Lockerby stated.

Mayor George Van Dusen stated village officers are conferring with the state to try to fund as a lot of the substitute as doable.

A part of what makes complying with the brand new regulation a problem is that the regulation bans partial service line replacements, the place the “public” portion of the pipes are changed however “non-public” sections of water piping (between a residence and an entry level) stay untouched.

Slankard walked trustees via a proposed “cost-sharing answer” for future lead service line replacements between village residents and the village.

Below this setup, householders would pay $3,000 – about half – of the price of changing the non-public portion of a service line, and would have the choice of paying $53.91 per quarter for 15 years as a cost plan.

The regulation incorporates a provision for residents who don’t need to have their portion of the road changed: they will signal a waiver that can be on file with the Illinois Environmental Safety Company.

Residents won’t need to do that for a variety of causes, Slanker defined. The method of changing a service line can disturb landscaping, basement ending and different components of a house, he stated, and it’s nonetheless unclear how a lot of property restoration prices could be on the village versus residents.

“Primary restoration of your yard, primary backfill, I’d say sure, [the village will pay for it], however your prized landscaping and all that different stuff you could have occurring, [the village would not pay for it],” he stated.

Skokie spokesperson Ann Tennes advised Pioneer Press that village residents who’re apprehensive about water contamination can take just a few precautions in opposition to potential contamination – beginning with working chilly water for a couple of minutes firstly of the day.

“This clears the water service line with the water that has sat involved with the service in a single day with contemporary water from the water most important,” Tennes wrote in an electronic mail to Pioneer Press. “If the residents are searching for a water filter pitcher, ZeroWater is among the higher ones, however a Client Reviews search will present further suggestions and data.”

Client Reviews additionally extremely charges the Pur Final with Lead Discount water pitcher for filtering out lead.

Water service traces are manufactured from lead, galvanized metal, or copper, Slankard stated. Residents who want to see what their pipes are manufactured from can examine their pipes and decide what they’re made out of by scratching the floor or simply based mostly on coloration.

Residents who enter the outcomes of their inspections on the village web site may even assist village employees take inventory of extra service traces all through Skokie.

“One factor residents can do to assist us as we full this stock is use the straightforward drop-down kind, put your tackle on there [and] point out what your pipe materials is,” Slankard stated.

The board didn’t take a vote on any lead service line substitute plan or coverage, however Van Dusen stated the matter could be thought-about as a part of the funds planning course of for the approaching fiscal yr.