You ask, we answer: Why are some Milwaukee neighborhoods getting their lead pipes replaced first?

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10-02-2025

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Public Investigator team chases tips, finds answers, and gets results. No story is too big or too small. Got a tip or a question? Email [e-mail].
Forty years ago, as a public health nurse for the city of Milwaukee, Chris Baumgart visited people's homes to educate residents on the dangers of lead exposure.
Although she warned people lead could be in their water, it wasn't commonly known that lead pipes could be to blame, Baumgart said.
So when she ordered a water test for her house in Bay View, the results were shocking.
"The lead levels were extremely high," said Baumgart. "I had two young children and was very upset."
Baumgart moved to Hales Corners two years later. But out of curiosity, Baumgart recently looked up the address of her former Bay View home and found out it still has lead service lines.
Around the same time, a friend told her that many of the stately homes on Lake Drive were getting their lead laterals removed.
Baumgart asked Public Investigator why these homes seemed to have gotten priority over historically underserved neighborhoods.
"Is this done on a suburb-by-suburb basis?" Baumgart asked. "Who makes the determination and plan of this work?"
It's true that 28 lead service lines were replaced on Lake Drive from East Newberry Boulevard to East Edgewood Avenue in 2023, Milwaukee Water Works spokesperson Betsy Vornholt told Public Investigator.
But the replacements were part of a planned effort ahead of a large roadway reconstruction project, Vornholt said.
Whenever the city tears up a street like Lake Drive for road work, it is standard practice to replace the lead service lines as well, to avoid having to come back a second time.
Separately, the city has also implemented an Equity Prioritization Plan. The plan directs Milwaukee Water Works to prioritize replacing pipes in neighborhoods deemed most in need, based on a combination of socioeconomic factors.
"It's about time," Baumgart said of the plan.
Here are some more details about how lead service line replacement works in Milwaukee:
Full lead pipe replacements are required for:
Licensed childcare facilities
Properties with pipe breaks or leaks
Properties undergoing city reconstruction projects, like the one on Lake Drive
For homes that don't fall under one of these situations, the Equity Prioritization Plan ranks neighborhoods for lead pipe replacement based on factors like income, housing quality, the rate of children under the age of 6 with elevated levels of lead in their blood, and the concentration of lead service lines in the area.
According to Milwaukee Water Works, under this plan, the city will conduct 60% of annual replacements on the north side and 40% on the south side.
The north side homes prioritized under this plan in 2024 were clustered in neighborhoods like Sherman Park, Metcalfe Park, Amani and North Division.
The south side homes prioritized for lead service line replacement were mostly in the Walker's Point, Muskego Way and Lincoln Village neighborhoods.
You can find out if your property is scheduled for replacement under the Equity Prioritization Plan by entering your address into Milwaukee Water Works' online map. The city is still finalizing which locations will be prioritized in 2025.
Today, property owners don't have to pay anything when their pipes are replaced during a city-initiated project.
That wasn't always the case. Historically, the city used to only pay for the portion of the pipe it owned, which stopped at the property line. The property owner was responsible for one-third of the cost, representing the section of the pipe between the curb and the residence.
But in December 2023, the Common Council passed legislation that eliminated homeowners' responsibility to pay for their portion. This was made possible after the city was awarded $30 million for lead service line replacements from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The funding also allowed Milwaukee Water Works to launch the Equity Prioritization Plan.
Property owners who initiate their own lead pipe replacements still have to pay the cost of the private side, and the city will pay for the cost of the public side. These types of replacements can be requested through an online form on the city's website.
Former Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett signed an ordinance in 2016 to start replacing lead service lines. Since the plan began in 2017, the city has replaced more than 8,000 lead pipes.
The city still has 65,000 lead service lines to replace, according to Milwaukee Water Works.
In 2024, the city replaced 2,700 lead service lines, Vornholt said.
Lead pipes are just one source of lead poisoning.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most children nationwide get lead poisoning from lead paint in homes built before 1978.
State data shows that childhood lead poisoning rates are more strongly linked to substandard housing, where children are more likely to be exposed to peeling lead paint.
A Journal Sentinel analysis of the data showed that 62% of young children in Wisconsin with lead poisoning were from Milwaukee, despite only accounting for 30% of the children tested.
From 2018 to 2021, more than 7,000 children under the age of 6 were found to be lead poisoned in the city of Milwaukee.
The Journal Sentinel's analysis also found that the highest rates of childhood lead exposure were concentrated in predominantly Black areas with outdated infrastructure and a higher rate of building code violations.
More: Milwaukee is making it easier, cheaper to replace your lead water pipes. Here's how.
More: Milwaukee children should be tested more often for lead, city says. Early detection is key
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even low levels of lead can harm a child's health. Childhood lead exposure can cause damage to the brain and nervous system, slowed growth and development, and hearing and speech problems.
Signs you may have been exposed to high levels of lead over a short period of time include a metallic taste, abdominal pain and appetite loss, according to the CDC.
Symptoms after a long period of time of exposure include forgetfulness, depression and increased blood pressure.
Quinn Clark is a Public Investigator reporter. She can be emailed at [e-mail]. Follow her on Twitter at @Quinn_A_Clark.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Alison Dirr contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How does Milwaukee decide where to replace lead pipes first?