Wausau’s Efforts to Replace Lead Water Lines Kicked Off Thursday Afternoon

Friday, November 10th, 2023 -- 9:00 AM

(Mike Leischner, WSAU) Wausau's effort to replace eight thousand lead water lines city-wide officially kicked off on Thursday afternoon when crews connected a west-side home to their new copper pipes.

Project Manager Eric Jones explains what it takes to make that happen. "We've replaced the public side of the water line as well as the private side of the water line and then we tied those two together. And that excavator pulled the lead attached to the copper, so as the lead pipe is coming out the copper pipe is going in the same hole."

Jones says that method allows them to dig just one hole and complete the job in a matter of hours. "By doing this pull through process we only have to dig one hole at the curb and we can just pull that line all the way through."

Jones says they'll spend the next few months mapping out who needs to have their lines replaced and organizing their plan of attack for next summer. "We'd really like to do it block-by-block, so we can do one chunk at a time and then move on to the next one."

He says he's proud to be part of the city's effort, which is being watched closely by state and national officials to see if it can be replicated elsewhere. "It's a little bit of a test case, maybe, but we're looking forward to that challenge and meeting it."

The work is being performed at no cost to homeowners through funding from all levels of government. Work will begin next year in neighborhoods located near the Wisconsin River and just south of Stewart Avenue, Jones adds that homeowners will be contacted when their neighborhood is up next for replacement.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.