If municipalities set aside those payments for six years, they would be able to give a grant for 100 percent of the cost for every lead service line in Wisconsin, he said.

If that $100 million is not enough, cities could expand their funding sources, he said. He cited Madison, which leased water towers to cell phone companies, and about 10 years ago replaced lead service lines all around the community.

“It is definitely possible for municipalities with existing funding sources, with the existing powers they have, to provide this financial assistance. And they can be doing it, they should be doing it, we wish they would be,” Vebber said.

Schumann argued that cities have to use the $100 million from the utilities to deal with the yearly cost of pipe repairs.

“It’s not like there's a bunch of money sitting around in coffers earning interest,” Schumann said. “There’s not a big slush fund of money.”

She also said that six years was too long to wait, and a delayed solution will lead to more costs. Companies currently flush a chemical solution through the pipes in order to decrease corrosion, but that solution leads to increased costs in waste water treatment.