Some homeowners could be forced to cover costs of lead line replacement

Roughly 350 homeowners in Saskatoon could be facing a pricey bill from the city.

They could be forced to remove lead pipes on their property after previously opting out of a 60-40 cost-sharing program when crews replaced city water connections.

Costs to replace the pipes are estimated at between $7,500 and $9,000 for each home.

That’s twice as much as the capped amount of $3,520 other homeowners are paying as the city attempts to have all lead pipes removed from its water system by 2026.

Prior to 2010, homeowners were given the option to not replace their section of the pipe as the city dug up the street in front of their property.

Since 2010, replacing the lead pipe has become mandatory.

Complicating the matter for the 350 homes which previously chose not to replace their water lines is changing ownership.

Nearly half of the homes have been sold — potentially multiple times — since the work was done, meaning current homeowners could have no knowledge their house has lead water lines that need replacing.

Mayor Charlie Clark would like to see what homeowners think of the situation before moving any further.

“We’re really talking about private property here; we’re not talking about public property,” Clark said when the matter was discussed during Monday’s committee meeting.

Several options were presented to council Monday which included forcing homeowners to pay for the replacement and have the option of deferring costs to property taxes.

Another option is to reoffer the 60-40 cost-sharing program, which could cost taxpayers between $1.58 million and $1.89 million.

The final option supported by Coun. Darren Hill was to not require homeowners to replace the lead lines.

The committee was unsure if lead lines are disclosed during real estate transactions.

Councillors deferred any further discussion until August to allow city administration to discuss the issue with the affected homeowners.