DRINKING WATER ADVISORY

If you live within the area indicated on the map below, you should take note of the following:

There is a chance that your well water may contain small amounts of uranium and radioactivity. We recommend that you have your water tested for “gross alpha” (a measure of radioactivity) before you drink it. Since this is not one of tests routinely done by the State Laboratory, you will need to pick up a special bottle at the health department and send it to a certified lab in Wisconsin.  The approximate cost will be $55 in lab fees. If your water turns out to have elevated levels, you should not drink it or use it for cooking.  Using it for other reasons such as bathing, laundry, watering the lawn, etc. poses no threat since the radioactivity is not absorbed through the skin.  Please note that ordinary in-line or sink water filters will not remove uranium or radioactivity. The risk of drinking water contaminated with uranium at the levels we have seen is mostly related to kidney damage with long-time exposure.  There may also be a very small increase in cancer risk over the course of a lifetime. Please help us collect valuable information by making sure we have the results of the test on your water.  If you are testing a well already in use, please fill out the Well Information Sheet and the Health Survey and return it to your local health department (it will take only a minute).  This information is important whether or not your water contains uranium.

If you have further questions, please feel free to contact the health department.
For information from the EPA, visit www.epa.gov/safewater/standard/pp/radnucpp.html