Jacksonville to replace 245 lead service lines starting in June

Jacksonville residents in the northwest part of town are set to see one of the city’s most important water projects move from planning to construction, with work on about 245 lead service lines expected to begin in June. The first phase is aimed at homes in older neighborhoods where lead service lines remain a long-term health risk, and city officials are preparing for the kind of block-by-block coordination that usually comes before streets are opened and yards are disturbed.

The project is not a small repair job. City leaders voted Jan. 14 to advance Phase 1 of a decade-spanning, $30 million lead service line replacement program, initially targeting about 245 connections on Jacksonville’s northeast side. A separate project description says Phase I will replace lead service lines and galvanized lines that need replacement with PE and copper service materials in the northeast section. The city’s latest description places the first phase in the northwest part of Jacksonville, suggesting crews are still working through final boundaries and scheduling before the first excavation begins.

For homeowners, the practical impact will be in the staging of the work itself. The city is expected to coordinate with property owners, issue notices and sequence the replacements so contractors can move through the neighborhood efficiently. In projects like this, the visible signs usually come first: crews, traffic disruption, temporary digging and patching around service connections before the water line work is wrapped up.

Jacksonville’s push also sits inside a larger state mandate. The city says it is working on a lead service line replacement plan for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and Illinois’ Lead Service Line Replacement and Notification Act took effect Jan. 1, 2022. Illinois EPA says community water supplies must maintain a service-line material inventory and a replacement plan. The state required an initial inventory by April 15, 2022, electronic submission by April 15, 2023, and a complete inventory by April 15, 2024. The Illinois Municipal League says updated replacement plans are due annually until April 15, 2027.

Federal rules are tightening as well. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized Lead and Copper Rule Improvements on Oct. 8, 2024, and the Illinois Municipal League says federal compliance begins Nov. 1, 2027, with most U.S. community water systems then facing a 10-year replacement timeline. For Jacksonville, the June start date marks the point where a long-standing water safety concern becomes visible on neighborhood streets, with the first phase now moving into the hands of contractors and affected households.