WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) – After months of delays, Wausau’s new water treatment facility has gone online.
It was supposed to go into service last August. That was pushed back to October. The delays were in part because of parts and supply-chain shortages, and because of a post-design filtration system to deal with forever chemicals. The new plant took two years to build, and was in the planning stages for four years.
According to a news release from the city, testing at the facility shows its providing higher quality drinking water for residents.
The city says getting this facility online is a “milestone achievement” and will better equip them to treat any future contaminants.
They said it will still take a couple of weeks for the water currently in the system to be used and changed over.
The new facility comes at a steep price for water customers. The filtration to bring PFAS levels to near zero will cause water rates to go up nearly 65-percent. The rate increase still must be approved by state regulators.
