Groundwater & Drinking Water Quality Health Standards/Advisories

The following table lists the Wisconsin NR 140 health-based Groundwater Enforcement Standard (ES), NR 809 Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) or Lifetime Health Advisory Level (HAL) for contaminants that apply to drinking water or groundwater. NR 140 health-based Enforcement Standards and NR 809 Maximum Contaminant Levels are enforceable standards established to protect public health by limiting the levels of contaminants in drinking water and groundwater. More...Lifetime Health Advisories are not legally enforceable standards, but serve as technical guidance to assist regulators with water consumption advisories and groundwater remedy decisions.

Note: Chapter NR 140, Wisconsin Administrative Code also contains welfare based Enforcement Standards and a lower set of groundwater quality standards called preventive action limits (PALs). PALs serve as indicators of potential contamination problems and are also the limits at which response actions, under NR 140, may be required. PAL values for public health and welfare related substances are listed in Tables 1 and 2 in NR 140.

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Footnotes

*The HAL value for any combination of two or more of: aldicarb, aldicarb sulfone or aldicarb sulfoxide is 7 mg/L, based on similar mode of action

**The 10 mg/L MCL for arsenic becomes effective January 23, 2006.

***The MCL for total trihalomethanes (bromodichloromethane + bromoform + chloroform + dibromochloromethane) is 80 mg/L

Units/Terms

pCi/L Picocurries per liter

mg/L micrograms per liter

mg/L milligrams per liter

MFL million fibers per liter

TTAL Treatment Technique Action Level - the concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements which a water system must follow

TT Treatment Technique - a required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water

Definitions

CAS Registry Number Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) registry numbers. These are unique numbers assigned to a chemical substance.

NR 140 ES Enforcement Standards (ESs) contained in Chapter NR 140, Wisconsin Administrative Code. ESs are groundwater quality standards that, if exceeded, may trigger NR 140 response actions such as: changes to a facility design or operation, requirements to use alternate treatment techniques or implementation of remedial actions.

NR 809 MCL Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) contained in Chapter 809, Wisconsin Administrative Code. MCLs are the highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water.

Lifetime HALLifetime Health Advisory Level established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency or by the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services. Health Advisories are estimates of the concentration of a chemical in drinking water that is not expected to cause any adverse noncancer effects for a lifetime of exposure.

USEPA Cancer Group: United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) cancer grouping and category. This is a qualitative weight-of-evidence judgment as to the likelihood that a chemical may be a carcinogen for humans.

Group Category

A Human carcinogen

B1 Probable human carcinogen (limited evidence in epidemiological studies)

B2 Probable human carcinogen (sufficient evidence in animal studies)

C Possible human carcinogen

D Not classified as to human carcinogenicity

E Evidence of noncarcinogenicity for humans

For more information

Drinking Water and Groundwater Standards and the Health Advisory Level table, contact:
Bill Phelps, (608)267-7619