SOURCES OF DRINKING WATER

• Wisconsin has nearly 11,500 public water systems which meet the daily water needs of about 4 million people. Public water systems that are owned by a community are called municipal water systems. Adams County has 4 municipal water systems.  

GROUNDWATER PROTECTION POLICIES   

• 2 of 4 municipal water systems in Adams County have a wellhead protection plan: Adams and Rome.
• 1 of 4 municipal water systems in Adams County has a wellhead protection ordinance: Adams.
• Adams County has adopted an animal waste management ordinance.

MONEY SPENT ON CLEANUP

• Over $5 million have been spent on petroleum cleanup in Adams County from leaking underground storage tanks, which equates to $257 per county resident.
• 1 municipal water systems in Adams County has spent money to reduce nitrate levels.

GROUNDWATER USE    

• From 1979 to 2005, total water use in Adams County has increased from about 12.5 million gallons per day to 46.0 million gallons per day. *
• The increase in total water use over this period is due primarily to an increase in irrigation. Notably commercial usage has doubled and domestic usage has increased by 50%.
• The proportion of county water use supplied by groundwater has been consistently above 99% from 1979 to 2005.*
• Water use in Wisconsin is generally estimated for the following categories:
  • Domestic
  • Livestock
  • Aquaculture
  • Irrigation
  • Industrial
  • Commercial
  • Public use and losses
  • Thermoelectric or mining*

* Thermoelectric and mining data are not considered in water-use tables or figures on this web site. Thermoelectric-power water use is the amount of water used in the process of generating thermoelectric power. The predominant use of water is as non-contact cooling water to condense the steam created to turn the turbines and generate electricity.

SUSCEPTIBILITY OF GROUNDWATER TO CONTAMINANTS   

• Wisconsin has abundant quantities of high-quality groundwater, but once groundwater is contaminated, it's very expensive and often not technically possible to clean.
• An evaluation of the susceptibility of groundwater to contamination in Adams County can be seen in the FULL REPORT or accessed through the map link above.

GROUNDWATER QUALITY

• 91% of 1,007 private well samples collected in Adams County from 1990-2006 met the health-based drinking water limit for nitrate-nitrogen.  
• A 2002 study estimated that 36% of private drinking water wells in the region of Wisconsin that includes Adams County contained a detectable level of an herbicide or herbicide metabolite. Pesticides occur in groundwater more commonly in agricultural regions, but can occur anywhere pesticides are stored or applied.   
• 28,817 acres of land in Adams County are in atrazine prohibition areas.
• No arsenic data were found for private wells in Adams County.

POTENTIAL SOURCES OF CONTAMINANTS

• There are 27 open-status sites in Adams County that have contaminated groundwater and/or soil. These sites include 19 Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) sites, 5 Environmental Repair (ERP) sites and 3 spill sites.   
• There is 1 concentrated animal feeding operation in Adams County.
• There is 1 licensed landfill in Adams County.
• There are no Superfund sites in Adams County.

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