$28,500. That’s how much it would cost me to replace the toxic lead pipes leading to my house.

Chicago officials have estimated the cost of replacing the lead water lines leading into people’s homes at $19,000 to $26,000. That’s about five times more than in Detroit, Axios reports, and four to five times more than my colleague paid in Oak Park.?

But the hit for Chicagoans may be even worse than that. It is for my home at least.?

My bill would be $28,500, according to a June quote from Lakeshore Plumbing. After Axios reporter Monica Eng and I peppered Lakeshore President Leo Deely on his pricing, I concluded Deely was giving me an honest quote and maybe even a discount.

As Monica reported in May, “city officials promised in 2020 to remove 400 to 800 lead water lines a year. But despite having $15 million in federal funding for the program, the city has removed just 60, and most homes are still connected to the water main using lead pipes.”

This matters because lead is toxic. And my husband and I have two young children, ages 3 and 6. We also had a lead scare when we bought our home.

M. Harris & Co., the marketing agency I founded, does a lot of water-related work.

So when we bought our home, we paid extra to have an inspector test for lead.?

Results from the first draw on the kitchen faucet came back at 85 parts per billion, way over the safe limit of 15 parts per billion, which is itself ridiculous as the U.S. EPA says there is no safe level of exposure to lead.?

We required the seller to replace the kitchen faucet as well as the first few feet of piping for the cold water line under the sink. We also asked him to confirm the plumber he hired had used lead-free solder.?

The seller came back with this: “There was a part in there from China. Might have been the culprit." A washer also had sediment.

Indeed, on the next test, lead levels plummeted to an acceptable 8 parts per billion. Still, we installed filters on the one sink on every floor we use for drinking water.

This year, with a tax refund on the way, my thought was to take an extra step to ensure our children were safe by replacing the lead lines that connect the water main under our street with our home. (The internal lines are all copper.)

Here’s what I learned: The price is largely dependent on how far your house is from the main line. In other words, how much of the road does Leo need to tear up??

And, just my luck, the water main on my street is about as far away as one can get and still be in the street. If I lived on the north side of my street instead of the south side, the project would fall on the low end of the city’s estimated price range, according to Leo.

Monica and I asked what the city could do to get the cost down.?

He explained that while the city waives water department fees for lead service line replacements, it does not waive transportation department fees for the necessary permits to rip up the road. Second, the city has stricter rules, when compared with the suburbs and other cities, on refilling the road. Chicago requires more expensive materials and processes.

So, as it stands, I would need to pay $28,500 to repair the city’s infrastructure to protect the health of my children. Instead, I’ve decided to run another test using Tap Score’s essential city water test kit. (I’ll post an update here when I have them.)

In comparison, the main line on my colleague’s street in Oak Park was upgraded by the city in the late 1990s, including the line to the parkway. His contractors had to replace only about 50 feet of pipe from his house to the parkway. And the contractor used a horizontal drill device to avoid disrupting the sidewalk or the front yard landscaping. The bill in early 2021: $5,215, which included village permit fees.

What frustrates people with insider knowledge is that former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel had an opportunity to replace everyone’s lead lines at the same time his administration upgraded the city’s main water lines.?

The roads were already being torn up, which I now know drives much of the cost.?

After all, homeowners don't own the line past the sidewalk. The city does. And leaders know they’re unsafe.

Isn’t this the kind of repair our taxes are supposed to cover??

Melissa Harris is the CEO of M. Harris & Co., a Chicago marketing agency, and a former business columnist at the Chicago Tribune.