McHenry looking to fix 312 lead service lines starting in 2027

The city of McHenry knows it has 312 lead service lines to homes and businesses that must be replaced beginning in 2027, with costs estimated at $10,000 per home for that work.

Department of Public Works Field Operations Manager Steve Wirch outlined to the McHenry City Council on Tuesday night what the problem is, and how the city could pay for those line replacements.

“It is mandated by the [Environmental Protection Agency] for us to replace the lead services in town,” Wirch said.

In 2021, Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Lead Service Line Replacement and Notification Act, requiring community water suppliers to develop, implement and maintain a comprehensive water service line material inventory and replacement plan, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman Kim Biggs said.

All water suppliers are required to submit inventories of lead service lines to the Illinois EPA no later than April 15, 2024, and the law mandates the lines be replaced.

Public works crews began surveying for those lead connections in McHenry about six months ago, Wirch said. They started with the older parts of town, including homes and businesses on Riverside Drive, Green Street and Main Street.

Those areas where lead service was found are in the older parts of McHenry, Wirch said. Lead lines and connections were banned in 1986, and a rule in 1991 mandated water providers add phosphate to prevent lead leeching into the water.

Wirch said he has worked in McHenry since the late 1990s, so he also had a good idea of which parts of town were more likely to have lead services.

“We went into homes and took pictures to verify what it was,” he said.

The good news is that testing has not shown those addresses have lead in their water. “All of our samples say it is safe,” Wirch said.

“All of our samples say it is safe.”

—  McHenry Department of Public Works Field Operations Manager Steve Wirch

According to state law, McHenry must have a final plan to replace water service in 2027, and the work must be completed by 2042.

Some of those will be replaced when the Illinois Department of Transportation widens Route 31, Wirch said.

The city also has replaced three lines as leaks developed. In those cases, he said, city crews replaced the line from the main to the shutoff box, then paid for a plumber to replace the line from the box to the home.

City Council members indicated they’d like to find alternative funding sources for the portion of the fix between the shut off box to the home – or have the residents pay for that portion of the fix.

Second Ward Alderman Andy Glab suggested the city look at using moneys in the tax increment fund account for residences that fall into the TIF district.

“Maybe it is time we reciprocate to the homeowners” instead of using general fund money for the repairs, Glab said.

Given the time allotted to replace the lead service, the city also has time.

“This is a long-term project. It is good to get ahead of it and have some options to come back to council with later on,” Ward 1 Alderman Victor Santi said.

More information on lead service line replacement can be found on the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency website.