City of Wausau. MWC file graphic
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Knowledge of PFAS in Wausau’s drinking water isn’t new news to some who work in the city’s public works department.
Director Eric Lindman says they discovered smaller levels of the so-called “forever chemicals” in 2019 as the utility was in the early stages of planning for a new drinking water treatment plant. It wasn’t until after those tests were completed that the Department of Health Services made its recommendation to the Department of Natural Resources. To this day, those standards have not been adopted state-wide, which he says complicates the issue. “Typically, with no standards in place we take direction from the DNR,” said Lindman.
He went on to say that the body didn’t encourage further testing of the water until December 2021. “[They] asked us if we would be willing to test for PFAS in the community’s wells. A lot of that had to do with some other municipalities in the state- their detection levels.”
That includes Rib Mountain, which detected elevated levels of the chemicals in one of their wells. That well has since been shut off, but that’s not an option in Wausau. All six of Wausau’s wells show levels of PFAS above 20 parts per trillion (PPT), which would be above the DHS and DNR standards should those be adopted by the state. The US Environmental Protection Agency currently recommends levels under 70 PPT. Wausau’s wells do meet that mark.
Officials continue to stress that Wausau’s water remains compliant and is safe to drink for now. But, Mayor Katie Rosenberg says she’s instructed staff to use the DNR’s lower benchmark as their target for the new drinking water treatment plant. “We are going to work as quickly as we can to make sure our entire system is set up so folks can feel confident that we are below that 20 PPT. That will take a little bit of time.”
Lindman says they have a few options to look at when it comes to filtering out the chemicals from the well water that’s processed by the plant. They will run tests on those over the next few months to see if any of them will work with the chemistry in the well water to bring the levels down for the end-user.
Other options for the city include bringing in temporary filtration systems and offering bottled water filling stations.
Wednesday’s news prompted responses from multiple groups including the Wausau School District, who announced they would let students bring bottled water to class in most of their buildings that are hooked up to the utility. The Neighbor’s Place in Wausau announced that they would make bottled water available to its food pantry customers as well.
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