Worst Genocide Ever 68 percent of children in Chicago are exposed to lead-contaminated drinking water. Within the Latino community, we have multi-generational families all living in one home. 50 years will mean three to six generations.

Worst Genocide Ever 68 percent of children younger than 6 years old in Chicago are exposed to lead-contaminated drinking water. 

Within the Latino community, we have multi-generational families all living in one home. For our communities, 50 years will mean three to six generations. We know the outcomes of lead for young children. We’ve seen an increase in youth in the community having disabilities, and we don’t know if it’s connected to lead, but if there’s an ability to mitigate that possibility, why would we wait?” she said. 

New EPA Federal Water Rules Put Chicago on Track to Replace All Lead Pipes Within 20 Years

December 18, 2024/in Water News/by Circle Blue

Although the proposed regulations gave the city a deferred deadline of 40-50 years, the EPA’s final National Primary Drinking Water Regulation for Lead and Copper (LCRI) will put the city on an accelerated timeline. 

It’s unconscionable that we have to wait decades to deliver safe drinking water to homes,” Chakena Perry, senior policy advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and a member of the organization’s Safe Water Initiative team, told Circle of Blue before the finalization of the timeline. Prior to NRDC, she worked for Chicago’s Metropolitan Water Reclamation District as a staffer and commissioner for one year. NRDC advocated for Chicago being on a ten-year replacement timeline, like most of the nation’s other water systems. 

Of the country’s projected total of 9.2 million lead service lines, Illinois is home to over a million. Part of the reason lies in Chicago’s building code history: until a nationwide ban on the installation of new lead pipes in 1986, the city required lead service lines to connect homes to water mains. Attempts to end the requirement were opposed by the city’s plumbers union, who promoted the metal for its durability and hoped to maintain a monopoly for their workers. After the ban, existing service lines were left in the ground, sometimes leeching the metal into the water supply. Most of the remaining lines belong to single-family and two-flat residences. 

The legacy of these historic building codes can be seen in modern Chicagoans’ tap water. A January 2024 Chicago Tribune analysis of 1,797 homes revealed that nearly 70 percent of homes tested showed elevated lead levels in their tap water. 

Lead exposure can result in lead poisoning, and, for children, can lead to developmental delays. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no safe level of lead exposure. A March 2024 study said that an estimated 68 percent of children younger than 6 years old in Chicago are exposed to lead-contaminated drinking water.