The City of Lincoln continues to make progress on replacing nearly 6,000 lead service lines on private properties over the next decade.
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird and Lincoln Transportation and Utilities (LTU) Director Liz Elliott announced Thursday, as part of the “Lead Safe Lincoln” initiative, the City has replaced 263 lead water service lines so far since crews began replacing lines in July 2024.
Back in March 2025, the City said they had replaced 138 lead and galvanized water service lines with safe copper pipes at no cost to property owners. Meaning 125 replacements have taken place in the last 24 weeks—an average of about five replacements per week.
“Our work to replace private lead water service lines at no cost to property owners protects our community members’ health and their pocketbooks, as these improvements would otherwise cost homeowners thousands of dollars,” said Mayor Gaylor Baird, adding the project continues to expand to new neighborhoods.
These service lines are smaller, privately owned pipelines that connect a home or business to the City’s public water main located under the street. The City has been contacting property owners via mail and schedules a in-home inspection prior to the work. A City-contracted plumbing company then completes the replacement work. Water lines for homes and businesses built before the 1950s are at highest risk of being lead or lead contaminated.
Since the project began, crews have completed replacements for all property owners who signed up in the North Bottoms, Woods Park, and Hawley neighborhoods. This summer, the City expanded the program to qualified property owners in portions of the Near South and Everett neighborhoods. Crews will also continue scheduling and conducting replacements in portions of the Irvingdale, Capitol View, and South Salt Creek neighborhoods in 2025 and 2026. Residents in these five areas still needing a service line replacement are asked to schedule that work now at lincoln.ne.gov/LeadSafe.
“Replacing your own lead service line can cost a property owner up to $10,000. We encourage property owners to take advantage of this program while it’s active in their neighborhood,” Elliott said.
This project is part of the City’s Lead Safe Lincoln initiative, launched in 2022 to proactively prevent community members’ exposure to lead. The program is voluntary, and there is no cost to the property owners for the line replacement service.
The service line replacement project is part of a multi-year program made possible through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law— signed by President Biden in November 2021—which provided $32.6 million in federal loan funding to this program, and by partners at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, and the Lincoln City Council.
The lead replacement program is estimated to cost $55 million to replace the 6,000 service lines. For more information and to determine whether your property service line is lead or galvanized, visit the Lead Service Line Replacement website at lincoln.ne.gov/LeadSafe.
City of Lincoln