Lead water line removal in Wausau, WI. Image courtesy: WAOW TV
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The Wausau City Council heard an update from Community Infrastructure Partners on year two of a five-year plan to replace all private-side lead water pipes in the city.
Sean Agid with CIP says the two-year project has seen more than 2,100 lines replaced, more than 1,500 of those coming in the last year.
He says Wausau is setting a standard for other communities to follow. “I don’t know of any other city comparable to Wausau in the entire country that’s replacing this volume [of lead service lines.] Wausau really has created a national model on how to accelerate the replacement of lead service lines.”
Agid says that’s possible because the city has secured significant funding from the Department of Natural Resources and other groups; $12 million in grant funding and just over $8 million in low-interest loans.
Workers replaced the 1,000th lead service line of the program in July. A few months later, that number passed 2,000.
Officials know of about 3,500 lead service lines still in use in the city. Another 3,500 are listed as “unknown.” Agid estimates that there will be another 600-800 lead lines among those properties.
The project began in 2023, with officials estimating 8,000 lines needing replacement. That number has since been reduced to about 6,400. Agid says they have already secured 1,000 “right to enter” agreements for 2026, and about 96% of contacted homeowners have voluntarily signed up for the program.
Other cities have started to get on board with the lead service line replacement program, meaning there will be more competition for dollars in the years to come. Agid says that shouldn’t be a problem for Wausau because its program is already in progress. “Wausau is fairly high up on the project priority list. I don’t anticipate that [the city] won’t get funding.”
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