Local Residents Learn About Their Drinking Water!

Recently, residents from the Towns of Troy, Honey Creek, Prairie du Sac, and Franklin gathered to receive the results of their rural well water tests and learned more about the quality of the groundwater in their area.  About 15% of the 105 wells tested contained nitrate concentrations that exceeded the health standard of 10ppm (parts per million), and 7% tested positive for coliform bacteria, which could indicate a breach in the homeowner’s well system.  Many homes also participated in a DACT screen, which indicates the presence of Atrazine and other related pesticides.  Residents learned that one of the wells tested exceeded the health standard of three parts per billion.  

The Sauk County UW-Extension and Conservation, Planning, and Zoning Departments partnered with the Towns of Troy, Honey Creek, Prairie du Sac, and Franklin to sponsor the drinking water program.  This program is designed to raise awareness of the importance of private well testing and to make drinking water sampling easy and convenient.  Public water systems are tested regularly, but private well owners are responsible for testing their own wells.  The nearly 900,000 rural, private well owners statewide, whose water does not receive the same testing or oversight as public water supplies, often know little about their drinking water.  A new interactive mapping resource, called the “Wisconsin Well Water Quality Viewer,” is helping to change that. The new viewer is available at the Sauk County UW-Extension website at http://sauk.uwex.edu.  

Private well owners should test their drinking water every 1-2 years and at different times of the year.  Sampling bottles for the “Homeowners Test Package,” which includes tests for nitrate, coliform bacteria, pH, alkalinity, hardness, conductivity, corrosivity, and chloride can be purchased at the Sauk County UW-Extension Office located on the 3rd floor of the West Square Building, downtown Baraboo.  Contact 608. 355.3250 for more information.

University of Wisconsin-Extension

Sauk County

505 Broadway Street

Baraboo, Wisconsin 53913

608-355-3250

608-355-3550 (fax)

608-355-3490 (tdd)

http://sauk.uwex.edu/

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