WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The City of Wausau has announced details of how residents can claim a free filter and pitcher designed to remove PFAS contamination from the city’s water supply.
Mayor Katie Rosenberg announced on Friday that the city has launched a signup process for residents allowing them to express their interest in the items. They’ll then be contacted when the city has the items ready for them.
She says they’ve chosen the staggered pickup system to make sure the items can be distributed in an orderly fashion. “We don’t want to have 5,000 people show up to city hall at the same time and not be able to get what they need. We are also working with some of our community partners [to get them] to people that are homebound or don’t speak English.
“We want to make sure we have enough for everybody,” she added.
Residents simply need to enter their address into the Google document on the city’s PFAS website or contact city hall with their information to be put on the waiting list. Once the items are ready they can either be picked up at City Hall or delivered by volunteers.
Rosenberg adds that they may make a second round of filters available to residents later this year depending on how the first wave of distribution goes.
The filters and pitchers come from ZeroWater and are designed to remove PFAS contamination as well as several other contaminants including lead. Rosenberg adds that it’s a company the city has worked with before.
“These are the kind of pitchers we [distribute] when we are doing road work and we have to disturb a lead lateral. We give these to the people in those homes,” she said. “Nothing will go to waste, we will make sure to use every single one if the interest is less than we’ve gauged.”
The city is using ARPA funds to cover the cost of the items along with bottled water that’s being distributed to residents through partners such as the Neighbor’s Place.
