Replacing lead pipes in Chicago costs more than 6 times the national average — and authorities can't explain why

Chicago has the nation's largest inventory of lead water pipes — and spend more than six times the national average on replacing each one, according to an article in Grist by Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, Keerti Gopal, and Clayton Aldern.

As the article notes, "Officials say replacing each one costs about $31,000 on average — more than six times the Environmental Protection Agency’s national estimate of $4,700 a line." As the city faces a federal mandate to replace all lead pipes within the next two decades, Chicago is looking at a $12 billion price tag.

A months-long review by Grist, Inside Climate News and WBEZ, the most significant factors driving up costs include "inefficient early contracts, cumbersome permitting requirements, and the city’s reliance on one-off replacements rather than undertaking whole blocks at once."

According to the article, "Officials with the water department said they see some room to bring expenses down as work ramps up. But they’ve also disagreed with outside experts who say Chicago’s high costs are unreasonable, and they don’t appear to be treating the drastic cost differential with other cities as a high priority to address." City officials say a lack of robust and flexible funding sources is adding to the problem. "Chicago needs to explain where the money is going and justify the cost," said Elin Betanzo, a national drinking water expert who helped uncover the Flint water crisis.