# Repiping in Evanston, IL Under the City's Copper Rule

> Repiping in Evanston, IL: the City's own code lists copper for water pipe, its lake plant supplies the water and a lead line pilot pays $2,500. Get an estimate.

URL: https://chicagolakerepiping.com/service-areas/evanston/

Last Updated: October 26, 2026

**Evanston Building & Inspection Services** Issues the plumbing permit (City of Evanston)

**Evanston City Code Title 4, Ch. 5 (Ord. 106-O-24): copper** The code that decides the water pipe

**City of Evanston Water Treatment Plant** Water utility

**n/a** Water-piping permits in City records

## What starts a repipe in Evanston

### A quote that offers PEX

Evanston's amended materials table has no entry for PEX or CPVC. A PEX price for an Evanston address is a reason to ask how it would pass inspection.

### A lead or galvanized service line

The City's private-side pilot pays $2,500 and waives the permit fees for a limited number of owners. Timing the interior work around it saves a second disruption at the meter.

### Risers in a courtyard building

Close to a third of Evanston's housing units sit in buildings of 20 or more units. There the job is riser by riser, with the association setting the shutoff schedule.

### An older house near the lake

Two in five Evanston units predate 1940. Steel or early copper in an old house is a reason to inspect from the basement, not proof the pipe has failed.

## Services in Evanston

### Copper repiping

Copper repiping replaces water supply piping in tube of the weight the design and local code call for, joined by an approved method and supported so it can move as it heats.

### Whole-house repiping

Whole-house repiping replaces every hot and cold supply line from the main shutoff to the fixtures in the material the local code lists, then pressure tests it before the walls close.

### Lead service line replacement

A full replacement of the buried water service from the main to the building, with the City's free programs checked first and the new line's basement tie-in planned with the piping it feeds.

### Riser replacement

Plumbing riser replacement in condo and apartment buildings, stack by stack in copper, with each unit's tie-in, the association's approval and the City permit planned before the first shutoff.

### Galvanized pipe replacement

Galvanized pipe replacement swaps restricted steel supply pipe for copper, with code-listed transitions wherever old pipe stays and a flush after every cutover to clear loosened scale.

### Commercial repiping

Commercial repiping for mixed-use buildings, small offices and restaurants, in copper, with the permit path, the shutoff windows and the business's hours settled before work starts.

Evanston wrote its own list of approved pipe for drinking water, and for new work the list comes down to copper. Ordinance 29-O-22 in 2022 replaced the state code’s Table A with a City version, and Ordinance 106-O-24, adopted December 9, 2024, restated the City’s plumbing chapter with the same table, so repiping in Evanston, IL is planned as a copper job before anything else is decided.

From the City’s own lake plant to the courtyard buildings near the lakefront, Evanston gives a repipe its own set of conditions. For Evanston owners and associations, [Chicago Lake Repiping](https://chicagolakerepiping.com/) offers and manages [copper repiping](https://chicagolakerepiping.com/copper-repiping/), [riser replacement](https://chicagolakerepiping.com/riser-replacement/) and [lead service line replacement](https://chicagolakerepiping.com/lead-service-line-replacement/), carried out by licensed and insured plumbing contractors.

## What Evanston’s Table A allows

Evanston adopts the 2014 Illinois Plumbing Code by reference, with local amendments in Title 4, Chapter 5 of the City Code. The amendment that matters for a repipe is the materials table. The City’s table of approved water distribution pipe lists three entries: brass pipe, copper or copper-alloy pipe, and galvanized steel pipe, with brass and galvanized marked for repairs only. A note sets Type L as the minimum copper above grade. Underground, the water service list calls for Type K copper at minimum, and the service must be at least 1 inch.

PEX, CPVC, polypropylene and PE-RT are not on the distribution list. That puts Evanston closer to Chicago than to Skokie or Oak Park, which follow the state table. Codes are amended over time, so the rule is confirmed with Building & Inspection Services for each address before work starts.

For the owner, the practical effect is that the decisions shift from which material to how the copper is run and joined. Type L is the minimum above grade, so lighter Type M tube is not an option for that work. Evanston also amended the state code’s section on copper tube joints, so the joining method is confirmed with the City along with the material. Copper’s higher material cost compared with PEX is built into every Evanston repipe, since the code has made that choice.

## Water from the City’s own lake plant

Oak Park and Park Ridge buy treated water from Chicago. Evanston treats its own. The City’s water treatment plant draws from Lake Michigan and can produce up to 108 million gallons a day, and it also supplies Skokie, the Northwest Water Commission and the Morton Grove-Niles Water Commission. The City’s water quality report covering 2025 lists an average hardness of 134 mg/L as calcium carbonate, about 7.8 grains per gallon, and a 90th-percentile lead result of 8 parts per billion against an action level of 15.

Those numbers describe the water system, not any one house. Hardness at that level affects water heaters, aerators and fixture cartridges more than it affects new copper, so it is a reason to check the heater during a repipe rather than a reason to change the plan. A lead result is a citywide sampling statistic; it says nothing about whether a given address has a lead service line.

## Timing a repipe with the lead line pilot

Evanston runs a Private-Side Lead Service Line Replacement Incentive Pilot. It reimburses $2,500 toward replacing the private side of a lead or galvanized service line and waives the City permit fees, about $450. The work must be done by a licensed plumber under a lead service line replacement permit, with an inspection, and the pilot is first come, first served, limited to 50 participants. Its capacity changes as owners enroll, so confirm it is open.

The City also describes a Homeowner-Initiated program in which it replaces the public side, from the main to the buffalo box, while the owner’s plumber has two days to complete the private side. Illinois has required full replacement of a lead service line, public and private, since January 2023. Neither program pays for pipe inside the house. If the interior piping is also due, scheduling it with the service line means one trench, one meter change and one round of water shutoffs; [repiping after lead service line replacement](https://chicagolakerepiping.com/guide/repipe-after-lead-service-line-replacement/) walks through the order, and the [lead service line cost guide](https://chicagolakerepiping.com/guide/lead-service-line-replacement-cost-chicago/) covers the service side.

## Evanston’s buildings, from courtyards to lake houses

Evanston’s housing leans further toward apartment buildings than Oak Park’s or Skokie’s. In the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s compilation of American Community Survey data, 31.7% of its 34,095 housing units are in buildings of 20 or more units and 17.7% in buildings of 5 to 19, against 32.5% detached single-family homes. 40.3% predate 1940, and the median year built is 1953.

That spread means two kinds of jobs. In a courtyard building like Colonnade Court or the Castle Tower Apartments, water climbs through risers, and replacing them is a building project with an association or owner deciding when each stack is shut off; see [riser replacement](https://chicagolakerepiping.com/riser-replacement/) and [commercial repiping](https://chicagolakerepiping.com/commercial-repiping/) for larger buildings. In the houses of the Lakeshore, Ridge and Northeast Evanston historic districts, the work looks more like a [whole-house repipe](https://chicagolakerepiping.com/whole-house-repiping/) through plaster walls. Age is context in both: a building may have been repiped long ago, and the basement shows what is there. Where [galvanized steel](https://chicagolakerepiping.com/guide/galvanized-pipes-chicago-homes/) remains, it narrows from the inside.

## How an Evanston job runs

Evanston’s plumbing permits run through Building & Inspection Services, and the permit type and fee for an interior repipe are settled for the address at filing. On site, the meter and main shutoff come first: that is where the service line’s material shows, and where the walk-through begins. Pressure is read static at a hose bibb, and flow at the lowest fixture is compared with flow at the highest.

Copper then goes in through clean rectangular openings in the plaster at fittings and turns, with tile walls approached from the back where possible. It holds a pressure test while walls are still open. After cutover the lines are flushed, aerators and screens cleaned and shutoffs labeled, and water goes off only for cutovers. The written quote names each opening and who closes it, which old pipe stays, how many working days the job takes and when the water-off windows fall; the [repiping cost guide](https://chicagolakerepiping.com/guide/repiping-cost-chicago/) explains what goes into the price.

## Wilmette, north along the lake

Wilmette, just north, also runs its own Lake Michigan water plant, and its Board’s policy has been to fund full lead service line replacement entirely with Village money, though Village minutes record that the long-term funding policy is being revisited. What Wilmette does not share is Evanston’s copper table: Wilmette adopts the Illinois State Plumbing Code under its own Village Code, and whether it limits materials is confirmed with the Village for the address. South and west of Evanston, [Skokie](https://chicagolakerepiping.com/service-areas/skokie/) drinks Evanston’s water but follows the state materials table.

## Neighborhoods and coverage

- Evanston Lakeshore Historic District
- Evanston Ridge Historic District
- Northeast Evanston Historic District
- Oakton Historic District

### Landmarks

- Dwight Perkins House
- Castle Tower Apartments
- Colonnade Court
- Andridge Apartments
- Edward Kirk Warren House and Garage

### Routes

- CTA Purple Line: South Boulevard, Main, Dempster, Davis, Foster, Noyes and Central stations
- Metra Union Pacific North line: Evanston Main Street, Davis Street and Central Street stations

1. 1. Auburn Gresham
2. 2. Austin
3. 3. Evanston
4. 4. Greater Grand Crossing
5. 5. Lake View
6. 6. Near North Side
7. 7. Oak Park
8. 8. Roseland
9. 9. South Shore
10. 10. Park Ridge
11. 11. Skokie

## Evanston questions

### How much does Evanston's private-side lead line incentive pay?

The City's Private-Side Lead Service Line Replacement Incentive Pilot reimburses $2,500 toward replacing the private side of a lead or galvanized service line and waives the City permit fees, which the City puts at about $450. It is first come, first served and limited to 50 participants, so check that the pilot is still open before planning around it.

### Can a repipe in Evanston use PEX?

Not under the code text the City adopted. The City's amended plumbing code replaced the state's table of water distribution materials with a City table listing brass, copper and galvanized steel, with brass and galvanized limited to repairs. PEX and CPVC are not on it. The rule is confirmed with Building & Inspection Services for the address before work starts.

### Does Evanston's water hardness affect a repipe?

Not the choice of pipe, which the code has already made. The City's water quality report covering 2025 gives an average hardness of 134 mg/L, about 7.8 grains per gallon. That level matters more for water heaters, fixtures and aerators than for new copper, and it is worth knowing when a water heater is replaced during the job.

### Can the interior repipe and the lead service line be replaced together in Evanston?

They can be planned together, but they are separate permits. The service line needs a lead service line replacement permit and inspection, and the pilot's reimbursement applies only to that work. The interior repipe is its own plumbing permit. Doing both in one mobilization lets the new interior copper meet the new service at the meter.

### Does Wilmette follow Evanston's copper-only rule?

Not automatically. Evanston's copper table is an Evanston ordinance and does not carry across the city line. Wilmette adopts the Illinois State Plumbing Code under its own Village Code, and whether its amendments restrict materials is confirmed with Wilmette Community Development for the address before work starts.

## Related guides

- Decision Guide [Should you repipe after your lead service line is replaced?](https://chicagolakerepiping.com/guide/repipe-after-lead-service-line-replacement/)A lead service line replacement brings a new copper service to the basement wall. Whether the pipe it now feeds should go too depends on what that pipe is, where the new line comes in, and how the two permits fit together.
- Cost Guide [How much does lead service line replacement cost in Chicago?](https://chicagolakerepiping.com/guide/lead-service-line-replacement-cost-chicago/)What the City says a full replacement is worth, who gets one free, what the Homeowner-Initiated waiver covers and leaves out, the inside-the-house work no program pays for, and what nearby suburbs offer.
- Learn [Galvanized pipes in Chicago homes: what to do about them](https://chicagolakerepiping.com/guide/galvanized-pipes-chicago-homes/)How to tell whether a Chicago bungalow, two-flat or greystone home still has galvanized steel supply pipe, what its symptoms do and do not prove, and how Chicago's code, permits and lead rules shape the fix.
- Cost Guide [How much does it cost to repipe a house in Chicago?](https://chicagolakerepiping.com/guide/repiping-cost-chicago/)Typical ranges for a single-family house and a two-flat, what sits inside the price, the City's permit fees, and why two quotes for the same house can differ.

## Nearby service areas

- [Skokie](https://chicagolakerepiping.com/service-areas/skokie/)Skokie Building & Inspection permits, Illinois Plumbing Code: PEX or copper