There are two primary sources of lead in water in Milwaukee: lead from the lateral pipe that connects the home to the watermain, and lead from interior pipes within the home that are made or soldered with lead. In 1872, the City of Milwaukee Water Works mandated that lead pipes had to be used to connect to the water main. This mandate lasted until 1950 and most of the homes built between 1872 and 1950 have lead laterals. Lead laterals were also of optional use from 1950-1962, when they were formally banned, so several thousand more homes were built in this period with lead laterals.[1] It is unknown how many homes have some kind of lead hazard related to interior pipes.

This is absolutely a solvable problem, but it will take careful budgeting and political will. Every lead lateral in the City of Milwaukee needs to be removed at the expense of the City of Milwaukee, which mandated their use. The City of Milwaukee Water Works is currently at a 70-year pace to replace the lead laterals and this is simply too slow. There also needs to be widespread inspections of the internal water pipes in homes to determine if there is a lead hazard present, though the cost of removal of internal pipes is the responsibility of the homeowner. Under the Biden Infrastructure plan, Wisconsin has been allocated $48 million for lead lateral removal. While this is a significant amount, it is nowhere near the estimated $750 million that it will cost to replace every lateral and this money will not be available for at least a year.