Lead Service Line Replacement in Chicago (2026)

If your Chicago house was built before 1986, the pipe that carries water from the street main into your basement may well be lead. The city counts more than 400,000 of these service lines, more than any other U.S. city, and replaced about 15,000 of them between 2021 and the end of 2025, according to WBEZ. A few city programs pay for the whole job; most homeowners who want it done soon will pay a licensed plumbing contractor themselves.

How do I know if my home has a lead service line?

Start with the building’s age. Federal law banned lead pipes in 1986, and the city’s water quality report says homes built before then have a high likelihood of a lead line.

Then check the records. The Department of Water Management publishes its service line inventory at SLI.ChicagoWaterQuality.org. WBEZ, Grist and Inside Climate News built an address lookup from the version the city filed with the Illinois EPA on April 14, 2025. That inventory listed 491,705 service lines, about 412,000 of which the city estimated need replacement. Each line is tagged as lead, galvanized requiring replacement, suspected lead (material unknown, usually flagged because of the building’s age) or non-lead. Many addresses are missing because one line can serve several units, so check the nearest entries too.

Finally, look at the pipe itself where it comes through the basement wall to the meter or shut-off valve. Lead is dull gray, a magnet will not stick to it, and a light scratch shows shiny silver metal, as City Bureau’s guide explains. The city has its own identification steps at ChicagoWaterQuality.org/LSLIdentification.

Do not wait for a letter. About 900,000 notices to people served by lead lines were due by November 2024; by early July 2025 the city had sent roughly 62,000, according to the WBEZ, Grist and Inside Climate News investigation.

Who owns which part of the pipe?

The line has two halves. The city owns the stretch from the water main to the shut-off valve, usually under the parkway, and the property owner owns everything from that valve into the house. Illinois law bars partial replacement, so a lead line has to come out from the main all the way to the building.

What the city’s programs cover

Program	Who qualifies	What you pay
Equity	Owner-occupied house or two-flat, household income below 80% of area median income	Nothing; includes a new water meter
Daycare	State-licensed daycare centers and in-home daycares (a daycare that rents needs the owner’s consent)	Nothing
Block-long	Properties along water or sewer main construction	Nothing; the city notifies you
Leaks and breaks	Any building with a leak or break on its lead line (call 311)	Repair of a private-side leak; the replacement itself is free
Homeowner-initiated	Any owner, including rental and commercial buildings	The contractor’s price, with city permit fees waived up to $5,000

Sources: City of Chicago 2023 Water Quality Report; City Bureau, Sept. 2025.

The Equity income limit for a household of four was $89,700 in the table printed in the city’s 2023 water quality report. Area median income figures change every year, so confirm the current limit when you apply at chicagowaterquality.org/LSLREquity. The city’s short questionnaire at chicagowaterquality.org/MyOptions tells you which programs fit your address.

The daycare program has a long way to go. The city’s equity office counted about 1,600 licensed daycares needing a new line and 207 replacements completed by the end of December 2024. Inside Climate News reported that about $2 million for the program was lost in 2025 when Congress eliminated earmarks.

The pace depends on money. WTTW reported in October 2025 that the city aimed to replace 10,000 lines in 2026 at a cost of $300 million.

The deadlines: federal, state and the city’s plan

The EPA finalized the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements in October 2024. Water systems must file a replacement plan by November 1, 2027, and most must replace every lead line within 10 years of that date. On the same day, the lead action level drops from 15 to 10 parts per billion.

Systems with an unusually high share of lead lines can get a deferred deadline if they show they are moving as fast as is feasible. Chicago is expected to qualify. Inside Climate News calculated in 2024 that the extra time puts Chicago’s finish line around the end of 2047; a 2025 analysis by Grist and Inside Climate News put it closer to mid-2049.

Illinois law sets a slower clock. The Lead Service Line Replacement and Notification Act took effect January 1, 2022, and gives systems with 100,000 or more lead lines 50 years starting in 2027. Capitol News Illinois put Chicago’s state deadline at 2077, with extensions of up to 20% possible. The plan the city sent the Illinois EPA in April 2025 targets 2076, at about 8,300 replacements a year. It says the city will follow the federal timeline if those rules take effect.

One state rule already speeds things up on some blocks: since 2023, city crews must replace the lead lines connected to any water main they repair or replace. Another change is pending. SB 4025, which the General Assembly passed in May 2026, would let the water department replace private-side lines in rental, daycare and multi-unit buildings without the owner’s permission. WBEZ reported at the end of June that it was awaiting Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature.

What it costs to replace it yourself

Figure	Amount	Source
City estimate for a full replacement	$16,000 to $35,000	City Bureau, Sept. 2025
Quotes received by homeowners	About $22,000 to $25,000	WBEZ, June 2026
Permits alone, as quoted to one homeowner	$5,000 to $7,000	WBEZ, June 2026
City permit fee waiver	Up to $5,000	City of Chicago 2023 Water Quality Report
City’s own average cost per line	About $31,000	City officials, via WBEZ, June 2026
EPA national estimate per line	$4,700	WBEZ, June 2026

Labor is one of the factors WBEZ examined. The prevailing wage for a union plumber in Chicago is $99.52 an hour, against about $97 in Minneapolis and about $121 in New York City.

What a licensed plumber does on the private side

In Chicago, the company doing the work needs a City of Chicago plumbing contractor license. That license requires a City-licensed plumber as owner or officer and a $20,000 performance bond filed with the City Clerk. The city publishes a list of contractors at LeadSafeChicago.org.

The city lays out three steps for the homeowner-initiated program: confirm the pipe material, hire a licensed plumbing contractor, and have the contractor apply for the permit at chicagowaterquality.org/LSLRpermit. Ask for a written quote that lists permit fees on their own line so you can see what the waiver removes.

State plumbing rules shape the job. The Illinois Department of Public Health requires the work to be done by people authorized to perform plumbing. Where the new water line cannot be kept the required distance from a sewer, it must be encased in pressure-rated pipe or made of Type K copper, and any visible sewer damage has to be fixed first.

Once the federal rule takes effect in November 2027, water systems will have to give residents a certified filter after replacing a lead line, and their replacement plans must include flushing instructions for consumers.

Test your water and filter it in the meantime

Any resident can request a free lead test kit through 311 or chicagowaterquality.org; the city schedules a pickup when you are done. In the city’s 2023 sampling, the 90th percentile lead level was 7.2 parts per billion, under the 15 ppb action level then in force. A single home can still test higher, and one low result is only a snapshot.

For drinking and cooking, use a filter certified to reduce lead under NSF/ANSI standards 53 and 42, which the EPA’s consumer guide explains how to identify. Some residents qualify for a free set of a pitcher and six cartridges; check your address at chicagowaterquality.org/filters. Use cold water only, since boiling does not remove lead. If water has sat for six hours or more, run the tap at least five minutes, and clean the faucet aerator regularly.

If you decide to hire someone, our ranking of Chicago plumbers checks each company’s license and complaint record, as described in our methodology.