M.K DeSantis, Pegasus Technical Services for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Series: Drinking Water Quality

Drinking water quality varies across in Wisconsin. In communities with public utilities, drinking water is subject to disparate levels of treatment depending on local needs and budget concerns. Nearly one million households get their water from private wells, which depend on property owners for monitoring and treatment. Across the state, many natural processes and human activities can introduce pathogens and chemical contaminants into water supplies. Wherever their drinking water comes from, Wisconsinites can use various resources to better understand and improve its quality.
 
A analysis released in January 2019 shows more than 40 percent of private wells in southwestern Wisconsin failed to meet drinking water standards. Meanwhile, rules implemented in the summer of 2018 attempt to curb groundwater contamination in other parts of the state.
Madison water quality manager Joe Grande said the city finished replacing its lead water pipes in 2012, making it a nationwide model.
A study of drinking water quality in the southwestern region of the state is finding contamination beyond safe limits in two-fifths of private wells. Wisconsin Geological & Natural History Survey director Ken Bradbury discusses what its research is uncovering.
The quality of drinking water resources is increasingly an area of focus among Wisconsin's political leaders. Their efforts, in turn, are generating significant interest around the state.
The city of Madison's water quality manager, Joe Grande, voluntarily tested for PFAS chemicals in public water wells that aren't regulated. Grande discusses what is known and remains unknown about these pollutants.
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Per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, better known as PFAS, can contaminate groundwater and pose health risks to people. Multiple Wisconsin municipalities are considering how to deal with PFAS, and Wisconsin DNR Sec.-Designee Preston Cole discusses the state's response to the issue.
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Lafayette County officials proposed a resolution threatening to prosecute journalists if they did not quote county news releases verbatim. Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council President Bill Lueders discusses freedom of the press and the Lafayette County Board's activities.
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The Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau found the state Department of Natural Resources has sent notices to only a small percentage of wastewater facilities and CAFOs that could be committing violations. Wisconsin Natural Resources Board Chairperson Terry Hilgenburg discusses these findings.
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Environmental groups are sounding the alarm over enforcement of wastewater violations in the state in the wake of an audit of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Amber Meyer Smith, director of programs and governement relations at Clean Wisconsin, shares her take on the situation.
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A critical audit found that over the past 10 years, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has failed 94% of the time to take enforcement action on private industry and municipal agencies when water pollution limits were exceeded. DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp responds to the audit's findings.