Skokie public works officials are presenting on solutions to the lead pipes in the city. | Facebook / Village of Skokie
Skokie public works officials are presenting on solutions to the lead pipes in the city. | Facebook / Village of Skokie
At the Jan. 17 meeting of the Skokie Village Board, the board discussed its plan for replacing all lead water pipes in the village.
"We're in the process of creating an inventory of our system," Max Slankard, director of Public Works, said. "The inventory of our system is to identify all lead service lines in Skokie. The majority of our service lines and our water system right now are currently still unknown. We have to submit a service line inventory in a final form to the state of Illinois by April of 2024. We are working on that inventory now. We have been working on it for more than or about two years now."
The state of Illinois issued a mandate in April 2022, requiring all lead service lines to be replaced.
For the Village of Skokie, this is no small undertaking. Of its 17,600 active lines, an estimated 10,000 will need replacing. The cost of the replacement could be upwards of $80 million and may take up to 30 years for completion.
By 2027, the village must submit an inventory of all its pipes to the state and develop a plan-of-action for replacement.
Lead pipes were commonly used in service lines until the late 1980s and present a health hazard, requiring them to be replaced.
Not only does Skokie face such a large financial burden, but it also must address an outdated stormwater sewer system. As its current intake is more than what the system can handle, an expansion of the system is necessary at an estimated cost of $146 million.
The city does not have legal authority to access service lines connected to private residences but individuals can sign a waiver allowing access if they wish. Slankard discussed that this was an important way to ensure everyone has safe drinking water without risk of contamination from lead or other substances.
Council was told priority repairs will be dealt with first, while taking into account the cost effectiveness of each procedure. Though this mandate is currently unfunded by any government sources, several initiatives are being researched to generate some form of financial assistance.
Homeowners may still have to cover a portion of these costs as the service lines are ultimately owned by them.
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