Wausau Will Hold More Discussions this Week on Progress of Pilot Study Regarding PFAS

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2022 -- 10:00 AM

(Mike Leischner, WSAU) Wausau's Water Works Commission will hold more discussions this week regarding the progress of a pilot study for PFAS removal from the city's drinking water supply.

According to Mike Leischner of WSAU, Mayor Katie Rosenberg says some of the early data has been promising. “Really, what we need is a little more replication. It is promising. I think we got solutions in that interim, but also long term solutions, which is really good.”

She says local leaders are also in the early stages of forming a group through the metropolitan planning commission with the goal of sharing information about the chemicals and how to remove them from drinking water. “So, we want to make sure that anything we’re doing we can share knowledge. We can push for policy changes as a group. So, that’s something we’re working on.”

She says filter and pitcher distribution continues as well, with a few hundred per week going out to those who've requested them. “We’ve had steady requests. I want to say we have about 6,000 on request. We’ve been going through the list, a couple hundred a week, just to make sure that people aren’t all showing up at the same time and causing a giant traffic jam.”

She adds that the goal is still to have the plant be certified to remove the forever chemicals, which would make it the first in the state to do so. PFAS build up in the body over time and can cause issues such as high cholesterol and certain cancers.

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