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The Minnesota Public Facilities Authority (PFA) plans to provide the city of Pipestone with $1 million from its Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to replace water service lines that contain lead.
City Engineer Travis Winter said during the Dec. 10 Utility Committee meeting that the city was included in the PFA’s intended use plan. He said the funding will cover all construction and all engineering costs.
“So in reality the city, homeowners and business owners will owe nothing,” said Water/Wastewater Supervisor Joel Adelman.
He said later that the replacement of the lines is expected to begin next year and that the work will include replacement of lead lines and galvanized lines, which can contain lead, from the water main to the house. He said they’ll be replaced with polyethylene pipes.
Adelman said the city has identified approximately 45 lead service lines and 20 galvanized service lines and there are around 830 service lines of unknown material for all or part of the line. He expects additional lead lines will likely be found as the lines known to contain lead are replaced and during other projects such as the Second Avenue Southwest street and utility improvement project planned for next year, and that they could be replaced as well, as long as funding is available. Each replacement is expected to cost around $7,000 to $10,000.
Adelman said the city had requested $3 million for the replacement of lead service lines and that additional funding is expected to be available to continue the work in the future.
“This is going to be an ongoing project over the next few years, not just in Pipestone, but all over the state of Minnesota,” Adelman said. “The other issue is always going to be funding as however many other towns will be fighting for the same pot of money. That issue has already kind of started in my opinion as we requested or applied for $3 million, but we are only receiving $1 million in 2026 and hopefully another $1 million each for 2027 and 2028.”