The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department has received $90 million to accelerate its lead line replacement project.

Thanks to the funds, the city can now replace up to 8,000 lead service lines a year, both public and private.

Listen: Detroit water department receives $90M in grants to replace lead service lines

The acceleration is possible through state and federal dollars. The department received $75 million from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy (EGLE) using the American Rescue Plan Act money, $10 million from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, and $5 million from the Environment Protection Agency.

DWSD is currently upgrading 20 neighborhoods, replacing over 200 lines per week. Director Gary Brown says the city is on track to have all lead lines replaced by the federal mandated deadline of 2035.

Brown estimates there are about 80,000 lines that still need to be replaced — and about 20,000 that have not yet been identified. You can learn more about the Lead Service Line Replacement Program at their official website.

Brown spoke to WDET about the water lines replacement process. Listen to the interview using the media player at the top.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says while testing shows Detroit’s drinking water is safe, replacing the lines is a priority before the pipes begin to deteriorate and cause problems.

The city has replaced 9,500 lines since 2018 — 5,000 were replaced in 2024.

The accessibility of fresh, clean water and a functioning infrastructure is something that many of us take for granted. 

Last week, The Metro had Detroit artist Sabrina Nelson on the show, who had recently returned from Africa. She said her appreciation for water changed once she had to walk miles a day to get water for basic needs like bathing and cooking.  

Imagine what it would be like trying to farm or grow crops with no immediate access to water. And the lack of proper infrastructure and access to clean water also present themselves as problems here in Michigan.

Read: Firm announces $25M settlement over role in Flint water crisis

The state of Michigan has a new pilot project by the U.S. Department of Agriculture which is offering financial assistance to help irrigate crops for local farmers. Those interested need to apply for the federal government grant by Aug. 16.

To talk about that initiative, Patrice Brown, Detroit’s Associate Director of Urban Agriculture, and Angela Thomas, the Garden Development Manager at Keep Growing Detroit, joined The Metro.

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Access to water is a major struggle for urban farmers in Detroit. 

“This is something that we’ve been fighting for for the last, I would say, five to seven years,” Brown explained. “We are excited that we are getting a chance to get to be the first state with this pilot.”

The National Urban Agriculture conference held in Detroit this past weekend discussed and addressed the need for accessible water and labor in Detroit. Brown heard discussions at the conference about the need for labor and water on urban farms, as well as the access to funding sources.

The goal of the new state of Michigan pilot project is to help alleviate some of the hardships on farmers by offering financial assistance to help irrigate crops for them.

Farmers applying for the federal grant, or interested in other resources, need to get a Farm Service Agency number to become an official farm. Thomas said anyone looking for help applying or getting an FSA number can call Keep Growing Detroit or call the USDA Service Center in Ann Arbor to get a number.

Also, Detroit has been working with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which has an office at the Ann Arbor center, to build greenhouses, or “hoop houses,” that people may have seen around metro Detroit.

“We are trying to help build the infrastructure so that farmers can actually grow healthy produce, but also scale up their business and maybe sell it…give away more of what they’re growing,” Thomas explained.

Also on The Metro, the Detroit Documenters coordinator Noah Kincade discussed their most recent coverage on the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department Board’s new payment plan for residents. 

The DWSD EasyPay Plan was designed for residents who have a hard time paying past due water bills.  

“So the way that it works is, if you have a past due amount on your bill, you can get into this plan with a simple $10 down payment, and then the remainder of your past due amount will be spread out over 36 months, equally and just added on to your existing bill,” Kincade explained.

More headlines from The Metro for Aug. 9, 2024:

• A collard greens cook-off, barbecue in Highland Park, and all the sandwiches you could ever want in Eastern Market. Those are just a few of the summer food festivals happening soon. Melody Baetens from The Detroit News talked with WDET’s Ryan Patrick Hooper about all this, in addition to a report on restaurant closings and openings that recently happened in metro Detroit.
• The problem of commercializing self-driving cars and trucks hasn’t gotten much easier over time. In fact, some automakers have disbanded their self-driving teams. But what is the state of autonomous driving now in 2024? To help us answer that, Pete Bigelow, the tech and innovation team leader at Automotive News and host of a podcast about mobility, talked with WDET.