Eight months past a federal deadline, Chicago has notified just a fraction of residents about potential lead contamination in their drinking water, despite widespread risk.
Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco and Keerti Gopal report for Inside Climate News.
In short:
- Chicago was required by federal law to notify 900,000 residents by November 2024 that their homes may have lead-contaminated water, but as of July 2025, only about 62,000 have received warnings.
- The city has acknowledged that it will not complete the first round of notifications until 2027 and is only now starting to inform homes with galvanized steel or unknown pipes, despite health risks.
- Chicago has more lead service lines than any other U.S. city and does not plan to replace them all until the 2070s — decades past federal targets.
Key quote:
“People are not getting the information they need to protect themselves. It’s information they should have had a long time ago, and we’re continuing to delay that? That’s not OK.”
— Elin Betanzo, founder of Safe Water Engineering
Why this matters:
Lead in drinking water remains a serious public health threat, especially for young children whose developing brains and bodies are more vulnerable to harm. Even low levels of lead exposure can cause irreversible damage, including developmental delays and behavioral issues. In cities like Chicago, where more than 400,000 water service lines contain lead or are potentially contaminated, delays in public notification risk keeping entire communities in the dark about their exposure. Climate change may worsen the issue, as hotter temperatures can accelerate lead leaching into water.
Residents in historically marginalized neighborhoods, already burdened by decades of environmental neglect, face compounded risks. Transparency, timely communication, and access to testing are essential for protecting public health, yet those basic safeguards remain out of reach for many.
Read more: Study reveals high lead levels in Chicago children due to unfiltered water
