Receipt

More than sixty-five thousand lead service lines remain in Milwaukee. A federal rule requires all of them to be replaced by twenty thirty-seven.

• F1 ← “More than sixty-five thousand lead service lines remain in Milwaukee” ⇢ More than 65,000 lead service lines remain in Milwaukee
• F1 ← “A federal rule requires all of them to be replaced by twenty thirty-seven” ⇢ a federal rule requires all of them to be replaced by 2037

For decades, lead service lines carried water into Milwaukee homes. They were the standard. Now we know they poison the water they deliver.

• F1 ← “lead service lines carried water into Milwaukee homes” ⇢ More than 65,000 lead service lines remain in Milwaukee

In twenty twenty-five, Milwaukee replaced roughly thirty-three hundred of them. That same year, the city replaced more than ten thousand since the program began.

• F2 ← “In twenty twenty-five, Milwaukee replaced roughly thirty-three hundred of them” ⇢ Milwaukee replaced roughly 3,300 lead service lines in 2025
• F5 ← “the city replaced more than ten thousand since the program began” ⇢ Milwaukee has replaced more than 10,000 lead service lines since the program began

Each replacement costs an average of ten thousand dollars. The city received more than fifty million dollars in twenty twenty-six to fund this work.

• F3 ← “Each replacement costs an average of ten thousand dollars” ⇢ Replacing a single lead service line costs an average of $10,000
• F4 ← “The city received more than fifty million dollars in twenty twenty-six to fund this work” ⇢ Milwaukee received more than $50 million to fund lead service line replacements in 2026

The federal deadline is twenty thirty-seven. Milwaukee plans to replace five thousand lines in twenty twenty-six, a fifty percent increase. The math doesn't close.

• F1 ← “The federal deadline is twenty thirty-seven” ⇢ a federal rule requires all of them to be replaced by 2037
• F2 ← “Milwaukee plans to replace five thousand lines in twenty twenty-six, a fifty percent increase” ⇢ Milwaukee replaced roughly 3,300 lead service lines in 2025 and plans to replace 5,000 in 2026, an increase of about 50 percent

Since early twenty twenty-four, homeowners in the program pay nothing. Those who ask for replacements outside it pay four thousand dollars. The pipes wait.

• F6 ← “Since early twenty twenty-four, homeowners in the program pay nothing” ⇢ Since the beginning of 2024 there has been no cost to owners of one-to-four-unit residential properties included in the replacement program
• F6 ← “Those who ask for replacements outside it pay four thousand dollars” ⇢ while an owner who requests a replacement outside it pays $4,000