Celebrate National Drinking Water Week
May 7-13

People can take simple steps during National Drinking Water Week, May 7-13, to help ensure their families are drinking safe water now and in the future, state drinking water and groundwater officials say.

About 3.8 million Wisconsin residents drink water from 600-plus municipally owned water utilities supplied by groundwater or by Lake Michigan, Lake Superior or Lake Winnebago. The remaining residents rely on up to 1 million privately owned wells that tap into groundwater aquifers.

“National Drinking Water Week reminds us how important water is for healthy families and a strong economy and environment,” says Jill Jonas, who leads the Drinking Water and Groundwater program for the Department of Natural Resources. “The awareness week also reminds us that where we live and what we do on the land will impact our drinking water."

Test private wells regularly to protect family’s health

While most private wells provide a safe source of drinking water, some wells do become contaminated with bacteria and other pollutants that can affect people’s health, Jonas says. For example, state sampling has found that one in five private wells have high nitrate levels. In infants less than six months old, such exposure can reduce the blood’s ability to carry oxygen and cause “blue baby syndrome” because the skin appears blue-gray or lavender.

“Regularly testing their well water, especially after spring thaw and if there’s a change in the water’s taste, smell or appearance, is an important step well owners can take to protect their family’s health,” Jonas says.

Private well water quality is not regulated by the state, so responsibility for testing and addressing any problems rests with the well owner. Jonas advises private well owners to call a certified laboratory to get a water sampling kit and arrange for testing. Tests for bacterial contamination and for nitrates are the most important.

DNR maintains online lists of laboratories certified to test drinking water for bacteria and for chemical contaminants. It can be found on the DNR Web site by entering the words “water testing laboratories” in the search engine.

People can also look in the yellow pages under "Laboratories-Testing" or "Chemists-Analytical" and select laboratories that indicate they perform "Water Analysis" and are certified by the state for the type of test you are requesting.

Bacterial contamination can come from sources including insects, mice, septic systems and livestock wastes. Nitrates can occur naturally or come from fertilizers applied to the ground. Contaminants can get washed into the ground by rain or melting snow but are usually filtered out as water soaks into the ground. Poorly-constructed or unsealed wells, fractured rock outcroppings, sinkholes, and quarries may provide a pathway for it to enter groundwater.

Learn about the quality of your public water supply and help safeguard it

People should feel confident that the water they’re drinking from their public utility is safe, says Lee Boushon, DNR public water section chief. Utilities are required to regularly test the drinking water and DNR monitors the results to assure the water meets federal standards designed to protect people’s health, he says.

More than 99 percent of Wisconsin’s public water supplies meet those standards for regulated chemicals. The state also monitors for chemicals not regulated by the federal government and issues health advisories if needed, Boushon says.

Water utility customers can take an important role in assuring the safety of their drinking water by learning more about the quality of their municipal drinking water through the Consumer Confidence Report utilities must file annually to DNR. Individual system reports are available on the Internet and are also mailed out every year to customers.

Jonas says that water utility customers also can encourage their local officials to safeguard land areas important for replenishing the drinking water supply. DNR has in recent years finished an exhaustive effort to survey Wisconsin’s nearly 12,000 public water supplies to show where they get their drinking water from, and the degree to which that land area may be affected by potential sources of contamination.

Jonas hopes that having such detailed information and tools available will spur water customers to get local governments to work with interested citizens to develop protection plans for land that supplies drinking water, and lakes, streams, wetlands and springs with year-round flow. They also can take steps around their own property to help safeguard local water supplies.

"Most drinking water comes from local sources,” she says. “If we want to have safe drinking water and healthy natural resources for the future, we have to think about what we do on the ground.”

Updated information now available on groundwater

“Groundwater: Wisconsin’s Buried Treasure,” a popular DNR publication that provides information on Wisconsin groundwater use, aquifers, the water cycle and protection programs, has been updated and is available online as well as in hard copy.

New sections in the glossy, 32-page color publication include features on how a well works, groundwater quantity and a Great Lakes water management agreement signed by Wisconsin and other Great Lakes states and Canadian provinces.

To receive a free classroom set (30 copies) of the new "Groundwater: Wisconsin's buried treasure," please email Laura Chern at Laura.Chern@dnr.state.wi.us or call her at (608)266-0126.

The Groundwater Study Guide booklet and activity sheets for teachers and youth leaders ere also recently revised and can be downloaded at http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/eek/teacher/groundwaterguide.htm. To get a paper copy of the guide, please email Dave Lindorff at David.Lindorff@dnr.state.wi.us or call him at (608)266-9265.