In the fall of 2018, the Village of Lannon was contacted by Lannon Elementary School because the school had a nonconforming private well that had repeatedly tested positive for E. coli contamination. Within 5 days of receiving this information, the Village called an emergency public meeting to inform residents of the situation. To provide the school with safe drinking water, an emergency water main extension to the school was designed and bid in just 3 weeks.

As part of its continuing efforts to address E. coli contamination in private wells at various locations in the village, the Village authorized us to develop an affordable, effective program to extend municipal water to those areas. We prepared a temporary emergency response plan that identified the need for 3 miles of water main, ranging in size from 6- to 8- to 12-inch-diameter, to serve those residents with contaminated wells. This water system expansion included new water service connections for 200 properties, running through 16 different streets within the village.

The Village conducted a significant public outreach campaign that included mailing public notices, mailing informational brochures, mailing individual property owner notice of impacts and available funds, and over a dozen public presentations.

In addition, we helped secure funding for the project through Waukesha County’s Community Development Block Grant and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development grants.