Wausau EquiFlow Lead-Free Program

An initial estimate provided by a consulting engineering firm projected it would take 15 years and $80 million to replace Wausau’s 8,000 lead service lines (LSLs). Factor in 15 years of inflation, the City was facing a $100+ million challenge and a plan that left families facing more than a decade of continued exposure to lead in their drinking water. The traditional engineering-led model driving that estimate was built on time-and-materials contracts that reward hours billed and long planning periods, not urgency or outcomes. In other words, the system was designed to be slow and costly when what the Wausau community needed was a faster way to replace its LSLs to avoid a public health crisis. For communities like Wausau, this kind of business-as-usual approach was unacceptable. The problem wasn’t just the lines underground—it was the system above them.

CIP reimagined Wausau’s approach by viewing lead service line replacement through a public health lens, not an engineering project. This meant structuring a program where the first priority was to remove all hazardous lead service lines as quickly as possible. Instead of paying an engineering firm based on hours worked, the program was structured to reward outcomes through achievement of KPIs: replacing a minimum number of LSLs, meeting a not-to-exceed price per replacement, using at least 50% Wisconsin-based businesses, and implementing a workforce development program to increase community impact. By pairing predevelopment funding to advance the program and accelerated replacements with a locally developed workforce, engaging residents through culturally competent outreach, and introducing innovative tools like self-verification and rapid inventory verification, CIP helped Wausau achieve results once thought impossible.