Water Issues

Drinking Water Issues

General Drinking  Water Information	Common Contaminants	Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water
Arsenic in  Drinking Water	Manganese in Drinking Water	Manure Contamination
Public Water  Systems	Private Drinking  Water Wells	Surface Water

Other Water Issues

All external hyperlinks are provided for your information and for the benefit of the general public.  The Department of Health and Family Services does not testify to, sponsor, or endorse the accuracy of the information provided on externally linked pages.

• Arsenic in Drinking Water  Includes links to Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and other agencies: 

Arsenic in Well Water: Understanding your test results  DHFS fact sheet (PDF, 51.0kb)

Arsenic – EPA fact sheet on proposed new drinking water standards. 

Arsenic: Well above, trouble below (article from Natural Resources Magazine)

DNR arsenic in drinking water brochure

DNR Map of arsenic occurrence in Wisconsin

USGS link on arsenic - maps and links to various national and international agencies 

Questions about arsenic in drinking water? 

• Common Contaminants  Provides links to DNR: 

Bacteria – Bacteria are common well contaminants. 

Lead – A toxic metal, used in many home plumbing systems. 

Manganese - Common element found in minerals, rocks, and soil that is naturally found in groundwater but can be harmful at high levels. (PDF file, 67KB)

Nitrate – A common contaminant in drinking water, nitrate is used largely in agricultural and residential fertilizers. 

Pesticides – Pesticides used on corn, soybeans, other crops can affect water supplies. Pesticide Reports published by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection.

Sodium - a naturally occurring element commonly found at low levels in drinking water supplies. (PDF file, 17KB)

Radium and Radon are two radioactive metals that occur naturally in Wisconsin groundwater. 

Volatile Organic Compounds – VOCs can enter wells from leaking underground storage tanks, landfills, other sources.

• Public Water Systems

What’s In My Water? – DNR database on public water sample results, violations. 

Consumer Confidence Reports – Annual report on public water systems, including test results and violations. 

• Private Drinking Water Wells

Well testing recommendations – DNR Private drinking water well testing recommendations. 

Well water testing labs – Labs that test private well water for Bacteria and other Contaminants 

Groundwater data: Including public, private, and monitoring wells – DNR searchable Database. 

• Surface Water

Polluted surface water DNR lists surface water bodies with various sources of direct and indirect pollution. 

• Miscellaneous Information About Drinking Water

Wisconsin Groundwater Coordinating Council Wisconsin’s groundwater as a natural resource.

DNR groundwater information  DNR topic's on groundwater and various drinking water issues. 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Drinking water fact sheets on their safe drinking water web page. 

Toxic Chemical Fact Sheets Fact sheets on chemical contaminants, some which are found in drinking water. 

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Last revised: March 25, 2008

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Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services
Protecting and promoting the health and safety of the people of Wisconsin