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Utility manager briefs committee on water, sewer reports, lead sampling and LSLI progress
Summary
Middleton’s utility manager presented the sewer utility annual report and the 2025 Consumer Confidence Report, discussed low‑level PFAS detections, a single lead test above the action level, and the city’s ongoing lead service line inventory (LSLI) work and regulatory deadlines.
The Middleton Public Works Committee on June 8 recommended Common Council adopt the sewer utility’s 2025 compliance and maintenance annual report and approved distribution of the 2025 Consumer Confidence Report for the water utility.
Mike Meyer, utility manager, described the sewer report as a routine, largely unaltered DNR document summarizing operations — jetting, root removal and backups — and asked the committee to recommend Council adoption of the resolution approving the annual report.
On the water side, Meyer said routine, certified‑lab testing fills the annual Consumer Confidence Report and noted the utility has seen three small PFAS detections that are being monitored but are, as yet, ‘‘incredibly minuscule.’’ He also addressed lead sampling: the dataset’s 90th percentile was four micrograms per liter and one sample exceeded the action level. ‘‘We have basically zero lead in the distribution system from a utility standpoint,’’ Meyer said, and said an isolated high result can come from a homeowner’s internal plumbing (for example, a lead‑soldered joint) rather than the utility distribution.
Meyer also outlined progress on the EPA’s Lead Service Line Inventory (LSLI) requirements: the utility has compiled extensive responses to inventory questions for its roughly 7,000 services and is working toward federal deadlines; if records remain incomplete by required milestones, the EPA guidance may drive targeted excavations to verify materials in the ground.
Why it matters: the consumer confidence document and the sewer utility annual report are the public record of water and sewer testing, operational incidents and compliance. Committee members pressed staff about what triggers additional testing and whether the utility should adopt a policy about responding to homeowner home‑test requests; members and staff agreed to return to that policy question in a future meeting.
Action taken: the committee recommended Common Council adoption of the sewer utility resolution and approved the Consumer Confidence Report for distribution; both motions passed by voice vote.
Next steps: staff will continue compiling the LSLI responses and report further on policy development for in‑house follow‑up testing when homeowners provide independent results.
