Water service line. MWC photo by Mike Leischner
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Local, State, and Federal leaders officially started Wausau’s efforts to replace some 8,000 lead water pipes over the next five years by turning on the first replacement line Thursday afternoon.
Project Manager Eric Jones says the job was a good practice run for the plumbers who will spend the next five years going up and down Wausau’s streets digging up and replacing the lead pipes with copper ones.
“We’ll replace the public side of the water line and the private side of the water line,” said Jones. “The private side was way more complicated in that we had a cable running through all the lead and into the home. That was attached to a copper roll inside of the home. An excavator then pulled the lead [pipe] out as the lead was attached to the copper.
“So as the lead is coming out, the copper is going in,” added Jones. “By doing this pull-through process we only have to dig one hole at the curb stop and we can just pull that line through.”
That process will be repeated hundreds of times over each summer. Jones says they’re hoping that they’ll be able to get the project done in chunks. They’ll start with a visual assessment to confirm if lead pipes are present. Then they’ll schedule the replacement at the beginning of the summer.
“We’d really like to do it block-by-block so we can do a whole chunk at a time, then move to the next one,” added Jones.
He also enjoys the challenge of putting the plan in motion while knowing that Wausau is being watched as a model for other communities to follow. “It’s a little bit of a test case but we are looking forward to that challenge, and to meeting it.”
The lead service lines in Wausau are being replaced at no cost to homeowners thanks to federal and state funding, including dollars that were allocated through the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
RELATED: Residents Won’t Pay For Lead Service Line Replacement Under Wausau Plan
Jones is working in Wausau through Community Infrastructure Partners, the group that’s helping to spearhead the plan through a community-based public-private partnership, or CB3P.
Thursday’s ceremony occurred at a home on the city’s west side near the National Guard Armory. Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg and Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs Tom Perez were among those in attendance. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers was also scheduled to be on hand but had to cancel at the last minute.
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