LSLR Financing Case Study: Madison, WI
Funding sources: Creative funding
In 2000, Madison, Wisconsin launched their Lead Service Line Replacement Program, the first major city in the United States to do so.
Since its inception, the program has successfully replaced over 8,000 lead service lines with copper lines. MWU provided homeowners with subsidies up to $1,500 of the cost of replacement of the private-side lead service line. The average total cost of replacement was $1340, with reimbursement for half the cost of the private-side lateral averaging $670. In order to fund this homeowner assistance program, MWU rented space on their water towers for cell phone antennas.