1,900 lead service lines replaced as Milwaukee Water Works contends with contractor shortage

About 1,900 lead service lines in Milwaukee were replaced between Jan. 1, 2017, and June 30 of this year, even as the city struggles to find contractors for the effort.

"One of the biggest issues right now is contractor capacity," Milwaukee Water Works Superintendent Karen Dettmer told the city's Public Works Committee Wednesday.

Contractors work on private lead service lines and in certain instances on public ones. 

Milwaukee Water Works employees don't replace the private lead service lines.

There are only four contractors that bid on lead service line replacements, she said.

"Just in having a bigger pool of contractors and more workforce availability, we would expect to see that competition drive the price down a bit," she said.

Dettmer said the Water Works has been reaching out to Milwaukee Public Schools and Milwaukee Area Technical College and has also been working with the plumbers union and existing contractors.

The goal is to replace 1,000 lead service lines this year, and Dettmer said the department is on track to meet that goal.

That's at a budgeted cost of $12.4 million for 2019, which includes replacement of the 1,000 lead service lines and work by contractors and city employees.

There were 621 lines replaced in 2017 and 910 replaced last year, according to figures she presented.

The goal is to continue replacing 1,000 lines annually.

There are still about 75,000 lead service lines in the city, about 70,000 of which are residential, she said.

As of Jan. 1, 2017, any time there is a leak or when the property is a child care facility or school, the full lead service line must be replaced.

The city has also been working closely with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and will be re-evaluating the city's corrosion control treatment, she said. 

In 2002, the DNR determined the city had added the correct amount of an erosion-control treatment to get the maximum coating on service lines to ensure lead and copper aren't getting into the drinking water supply, Dettmer said.

"We plan to get a third party to really come in and look at this fresh from the outside ... and ensure that we are really doing the best that we can to ensure the quality of our water," she said.

Derek Beyer, a member of the Get The Lead Out Coalition, was hoping for more from the meeting. 

"What was presented is just pretty much more of the same, which is a little disappointing," he said.

He said the coalition has been looking for a comprehensive, strategic plan that focuses first on the areas most affected by the lead service lines and lead paint. 

Beyer said the city's approach seems more reactive than proactive. 

The city's Health Department struggled for months after it came to light that the department had failed to provide services for the families of children with lead poisoning, or at least failed to document its efforts. The fallout included the resignation of Health Commissioner Bevan Baker.

An average of 3,000 of the 25,000 Milwaukee children tested for lead each year have elevated lead levels, the Journal Sentinel previously reported.

Lead can flake from pipes into drinking water, and dust or chips from lead paint can be ingested.

Contact Alison Dirr at 414-224-2383 or adirr@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlisonDirr.