Are you one of the....ooooh four thousand people or so.....who hasn't returned your lead pipe survey to the Madison Water Utility? Well, they are going to give you a second chance! Of the 12,000 surveys sent out about 8,100 surveys have been returned. The survey will help the Water Utility staff census the numbers and locations of the lead pipes on the private end of the distribution system.

Why bother? Well for one it will help you determine whether you should have a concern about lead in your drinking water. That might be useful information for you and your loved ones.

Second, lead pipe replacements on both the utility and customer sides of the water distribution system are estimated to cost $30 million. Staff from several city agencies are trying to figure out the least expensive and most efficient way of getting the job done over the next ten years. One method they have been using is to time pipe replacement with road and sewer repairs as much as possible. For example, all other things being equal a street with poor pavement conditions and high numbers of lead pipes will be given more emphasis than a byway with just poor pavement. Reporting lead pipe status may help us get a few more streets paved in the neighborhood.

Think broadly friends; when we redo the pavement we get better streets, improved storm water drainage and the possibility of more traffic calming measures to slow the cars. That should make the neighborhood a bit more liveable. It's in our collective best interest to use the process to our advantage.

Third, there is a pesky matter of a fine, but let's not go there.

What do we know about the lead pipe census to date? Well with two thirds of the residents reporting citywide we know we have 548 lead pipes on the utility side of the distribution system and even more on the customer side in our neighborhood. The data is being placed on a GIS computer map and the number of pipes by street segment is being used to plan the replacement schedule. Only a handful (less than ten) in our neighborhood currently fit the description of high priority, that is they are a day care or a facility serving the public. These homes/buildings

will need to replace the lead pipes within the next three years. All lead pipes will need to be replaced by 2010.

Remember we will all be paying a small amount, several dollars per year, on our sewer bills to fund the reimbursement program. This program reimburses the property owner 50% of the lead pipe replacement cost up to a maximum $1,000 per building. The reimbursement is retroactive to 1992 so hang on to those receipts.

So keep those cards coming folks!

-Ed Jepsen

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