drinking Water Safety

Know Your Water Supply

• Whether fordrinking, cooking, bathing, or doing laundry, a supply of clean water isimportant to a healthy home. Know where your water comes from.

Tips for All Water Users

• Install devices to prevent garden hose water from flowing backwards intoyour drinking water.

• Consult your local building code office before making major repairs orchanges to your plumbing system.

• Conserve water because clean water is precious. Don’t waste it, instead,use water-saving toilets, and showerheads. Repair plumbing leaks right away.

Water Supply Problems

Bacteria and Viruses

• The most commonproblem in private well water is bacteria. If bacteria are found, it means thathuman or animal wastes may be entering your water. Some bacteria can causestomach upset or diarrhea.

Chemicals

• Harmfulchemicals such as gasoline, solvents, and pesticides can get into drinkingwater. Natural chemicals like arsenic, manganese, iron, and radon can also getinto your drinking water.

Water Quality Testing

• Public watersupplies are tested for more than 100 chemicals. If you use public water youcan call the water utility for information about your drinking water.

• All privatewells and many public water supplies use groundwater. Groundwater is water heldin underground soils and rock.  Several communities use water from nearbylakes, like Lake Winnebago, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior.

Tips for People who use Public Water Supplies

• Find out where your water comes from. Contact your water utility if youhave questions about your water supply.

• Protect your water supply. Follow any water-use warnings. Dispose ofpesticides, motor oil, and other chemicals properly. Reduce your use of lawnand garden chemicals since these chemicals may seep into drinking water.

• Call your water utility if you have questions or if you notice a change inthe taste, odor, smell or color of your water.

• If you own aprivate well, be sure your water supply is safe. Yearly testing and maintenancewill help protect your water supply. Call your local Department of NaturalResources (DNR) office for more information.

Tips for People who use Private Wells

• Find out the age and depth of your well and the length of its casing (thepipe inside the drilled hole). Learn about the types of soil, bedrock and watersupply problems in your area.

• Find out when your drinking water was last tested. Know what tests wererun, and the results. Keep records of any tests or repairs that you make.

• Test at least once a year for bacteria. Several labs in Wisconsin can dothese tests. Check the yellow pages in your phone book for a lab near you.

• Test for nitrate. This is especially important if there is a pregnant womanor infant in your home. Nitrates come from fertilizer use, barnyard runoff, andseptic systems. A high nitrate level may mean that your water also has bacteriaor farm chemicals.

• You may want to do other tests. Talk to a regional water supply expert atyour local DNR office to find out if arsenic or radon are common in your area.If your well is near an old landfill, gas station, or buried fuel tank youmight want to test for volatile organic chemicals (VOCs). If your well is nearan orchard or farm field, a test for pesticides might be advised.

• Have your water tested if you notice a change in its taste, odor, or color.Some tests are expensive and may be hard to do. Contact your well driller,local DNR office, or your local health department for help.

• If your water contains bacteria or chemicals find out the source of theproblem. Fix it and test the water again to be sure it is safe.

• Keep chemicals, septic tanks, and animal waste away from your well. Disposeof chemicals and motor oil properly. Don’t put waste chemicals in your septicsystem. Limit your use of lawn and garden chemicals. Keep the area around yourwell clean.