At Least 35 Milwaukee Department Of Public Works-Water Works Employees Called In Sick On Friday Due To Understaff And Low Wage Flu

More than 35 Department of Public Works-Water Works employees who replace broken freshwater main pipes are expected to stay off work until Wednesday, according to City of Milwaukee sources.

By H. Nelson Goodson

Hispanic News Network U.S.A.

February 10, 2023

Milwaukee, Wisconsin - On Friday, Hispanic News Network U.S.A. (HNNUSA) has learned through City of Milwaukee sources that at least 35 Department of Public Works (DPW) Water Works employees who replace broken water main pipes called in sick and more than 35 of those employees are expected to stay off work until Wednesday.

The DPW Water Works employees are staying off work during the Super Bowl game weekend due to being understaff and low wages, in other words the Water Works flu has struck the City.

The DPW and Water Works provides service to 90,000 customers in the City. 

Currently, there are at least 70,000 homes with toxic lead pipe laterals connected to the water mains in the City of Milwaukee, which Black and Latinos reside in most of those homes with lead laterals. The Water Works employees manage to remove about 500 lead laterals per year and both the Water Works employees and private contractors in a combined effort get to remove nearly 1,000 per year. 

Also, nearly ten water break pipe replacement calls are done per week by the Water Works.

There are about 2,000 miles of old water pipe mains from the WWII era that need to be remove in the City of Milwaukee and only about 17 to 20 miles per year gets replaced.

100's of fire hydrants that have been displaced or broken due to reckless driving crashes and etc. around the City of Milwaukee have not been replaced within 24 hours by the Water Works due to a shortage of employees to prevent a fire hazard for the public and Milwaukee Fire Department when there is no fire hydrant to connect their fire engines to battle fires. Currently, it takes between several weeks to up to 7 months to replace a hydrant. For some vintage hydrants, parts are no longer available due to being to old and a new hydrant with the connecting pipes to the water main have to be replaced.

Apparently, there is no protocol for police and the fire department to report broken fire hydrants to the DPW-Water Works to schedule replacements, according to City sources.