Wausau Water Works
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Wausau’s Water Works Commission has approved ongoing testing for the city’s drinking water supply to monitor for PFAS breakthrough.
“We want to be ready,” said Public Works Director Eric Lindman. “We [also] want to make sure we are being very pro-active in this approach in this interim time.”
Testing will occur in regular intervals at a cost of about $500 per sample. Lindman says if results do show levels that exceed 20 parts per trillion they will be required to issue notices to residents regarding the level.
The commission also learned that changing the resin is a lengthy process that requires nearly $1 million worth of work. Once complete levels will be back to non-detectable, which is where they were when the new drinking water treatment plant came online.
The resin filtration system is a temporary solution while the utility waits to install a granular activated carbon filtration system next year. Lindman told the Commission that the project remains on track for a late 2024 completion date.
Lindman also told the Commission that they are planning to move forward with lead service line replacement to overlap with three road reconstruction projects this summer. Those are scheduled for portions of 10th Avenue, Grant Street, and Henretta Street. Residents who will be impacted will receive communication from the city later this spring.
“We are currently working with the engineers to prepare the communication plan. We’ll bring that back in April for a presentation,” said Lindman. “There [also] may be some public outreach in general that might be provided before the next meeting.”
The City Council is expected to consider using $500,000 in ARPA money to help fund the replacements- though it’s not clear how that money will be distributed. That vote will likely happen during their next meeting on Tuesday, March 14th.
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