City of Jackson Ramps up Lead Service Line Replacements

Contractors working on lead service line replacement.  City of Jackson photo.

(April 28, 2025 11:11 AM ET) The effort to replace all of Jackson’s lead service lines is ramping up in 2025. At their Tuesday, April 15 meeting, the Jackson City Council approved a $6.9 million contract with Five Star Energy Services to replace lead service lines at properties across Jackson’s southwest side.

Getting started in May 2025, Five Star is set to replace approximately 825 service lead lines in the area bound by W. Michigan Avenue, S. West Avenue, Audubon Boulevard, W. Prospect Street and S. MLK Drive. The replacement work in this area is expected to be complete by July 2026. The City is using funds available through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) from the State of Michigan.

As the City of Jackson works to replace all of its service lines by 2037, City Engineer Troy White says these replacements will be a big boost. “This contract will accelerate the City’s lead service line replacement program. It will be a significant increase of replacements over previous years,” White said.

In 2024, the City saw replacements accelerate with replacements at 379 properties. That’s a big increase over the previous year, when just 115 lines were swapped out. Another milestone was achieved in 2024, with the City surpassing more than 1,000 lines replaced since this work started in 2018. Progress is steadily being made toward the more than 10,000 lines left to go.

Replacements will continue through street construction projects and the Department of Public Works (DPW). The DPW urges residents to work with crews when contacted so lines can be replaced as soon as possible. Property owners are informed of replacements through phone and email messages. The replacements do not bring any additional charge to property owners because they are funded through water/sewer rates and other governmental sources.

The City is replacing lines to comply with State guidelines and this activity does not indicate a broad issue with lead in Jackson’s drinking water. A service line is the pipe that gets water from the water main underneath the street to a property’s plumbing.