It's Curious City, where we take your questions about Chicago and the region, and investigate, report, explore, from WBEZ.

Hey, I'm Curious City reporter Monica Eng, and for years I've been covering how toxic lead got into Chicago's drinking water.

What I've found is a long line of Chicago mayors, who either created the problem, ignored the problem, or just made it worse.

But recently, we got a new mayor, Lori Lightfoot.

And when she was still a candidate, she told me something groundbreaking about Chicago's

lead service lines.

These are the pipes that bring water into most Chicago homes.

Now, keep in mind, no mayor has ever admitted they're a problem.

I think it's critically important that we provide people with information and that we work

with them to get rid of the lead service line.

What? Yeah, she admitted we have a lead problem.

And that's not all, she said.

We have to come clean, provide people with information, and give them options on how to remediate the lead and the water in their homes.

And I just don't think the city of Chicago has done nearly a good enough job of being transparent

and being a partner with city residents on this incredibly important issue.

So now that she's mayor, what's the plan for this incredibly important issue?

Well, I've asked, and I've gotten nothing. Just a statement that

people are still waiting for a feasibility study, one that PS was supposed to come out last

spring. In other words, right now, nothing's happening. And that gets us to the question we're

tackling today. It was sent in by a guy named Mike Stevens.

He asked us how many miles of lead pipe Chicago would need to remove to tackle the lead

issue.

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