Water is in the news again. Lead water pipes need to be replaced and that is expensive. The federal infrastructure bill includes some 200 billion dollars for replacing lead pipes.
Some of that money will come to Minnesota. The St. Paul Regional Board of Water Commissioners voted to develop a plan to replace all the lead water pipes in 10 years. Those pipes would be replaced by copper or polyethylene lines.
Most of the lead service lines in St. Paul were installed in homes built before 1927, and a large percentage of St. Paul houses were built before 1927. It costs about $6000 to replace the water line into a house and it will take decades to get the lead out of St. Paul.
The drinking water in your home can contain lead if there is lead in the plumbing and or the water line going from the street into your home is made of lead.
If you own a home in St. Paul you can use the account number on your water bill to look up your waterline and see if it is made from lead or copper.
Find more information on the City of St. Paul household water page Also, read about having a lead water line replaced.
Lead waterlines are most common for houses built before 1926 which is most of my neighborhood including my own home but the waterline was upgraded in the late 1980’s
