Private well testing is an evidence-based strategy to reduce risks from exposure to harmful contaminants. It is a primary way contaminants can be detected, potential for health risks can be estimated, and actions taken.

In Eastern Wisconsin, water levels over large regions have decreased due to many wells pumping from beneath a confining layer. This combination of geology and cumulative pumping from the wells has resulted in a large regional drawdown cone centered around Brown County, Wisconsin.

The goal of this project was to develop a sampling and testing algorithm to support the new site assessment requirements under the Revised Total Coliform Rule (RTCR) consistent with the “find and fix” goals of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR).

Increased impervious areas resulting from urbanization cause an increase in stormwater runoff and a decrease in infiltration to the groundwater table.

In order for communities to plan for the future, it is essential that both the quantity and quality of groundwater be protected. Wisconsin law requires that by January 1, 2010

Groundwater in about 10 percent of wells open to Quaternary glacial and shallow bedrock aquifers in southeastern Wisconsin has arsenic concentrations greater than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s standard of 10 μg/l.