Green Bay Enlists Customer Assistance In Lead Strategy

The water utility in Green Bay, WI, is enlisting customer assistance in addressing its lead challenges.

“The Green Bay Water Utility says it needs help identifying private water service lines made out of lead in the city. The private water service line is the pipe where water enters the home,” Fox 11 News reported.

Around 2,180 homes “have private water service lines that were installed prior to 1945, the year Green Bay stopped installing lead water service lines,” NBC 26 reported

These households will receive a postcard with instructions for how to identify whether the service line is made out of lead or another material. They will also receive instructions in how to report their findings to the Green Bay Water Utility.

“To make the requested assistance as easy as possible, Green Bay Water Utility has created brochures in English, Spanish and Hmong with pictorial directions for identifying the private water service line material; these can be downloaded at gbwater.org,” the report said.

Customers who have difficulty identifying what their service lines are made of are asked to call the utility for assistance so a technician can be sent to their homes at no cost.

Nancy Quirk, general manager of Green Bay Water Utility, described the significance of the effort.

“It is important that these homeowners identify the material of their private water service lines and report the findings back to us as soon as possible, even if the material is not lead,” she said, per the report.

“If homeowners discover their private water service lines are lead, they may be eligible to have them replaced at no cost. We have funding available now to cover 100 percent of the replacement fee, but we do not know how much longer the funds will be available,” she continued.  

The utility is hoping to replace the utility’s lead pipes within 6 years, according to WSAU.

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