Cleveland Moves Forward with Year 5 of Lead Service Line Replacement

Cleveland is advancing its efforts to modernize the city's water infrastructure through the next phase of its lead service line replacement initiative. City Council has passed an emergency ordinance, Ord. No. 624-2026, which allows the Division of Water to hire professional consultants and secure contracts for materials and labor to manage "Program Year 5" of the replacement project. This phase aims to continue the city's work of replacing older lead and galvanized service lines with copper, a process that helps ensure the long-term safety of the drinking water delivered to residents by the Division of Water.

According to the Legislative Summary, the program utilizes funding from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, administered in Ohio by the Ohio EPA through the Drinking Water Supply Revolving Loan Account. This funding includes both grants and 0% interest loans. The city's replacement efforts have been active since August 2023, and as of late 2025, the program had already reduced the number of lead service lines in the system by more than 11,000 connections. For Year 5, the city anticipates replacing approximately 12,000 service connections annually and plans to use up to 15 contracts for construction and restoration work, along with five contracts for procuring materials. The legislation also provides the authority to accept necessary state and federal funds to support these specific improvements, which include 20 designated project sites labeled CWD LSLR 5-1 through 5-20.

The ordinance has officially passed, marking a transition toward the planning and procurement stages for the upcoming year. Residents can watch for the start of Year 5 construction, which the city anticipates will begin in the first quarter of 2027.

Source record

File
624-2026
Type
Emergency Ordinance
Status
Passed
Committee
City Council
Introduced
May 7, 2026

View on Cleveland Legistar

Official documents

Sources