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. Fond du Lac County has 12 municipal water systems.  

GROUNDWATER PROTECTION POLICIES   

• 6 of 12 municipal water systems in Fond du Lac County have a wellhead protection plan: Campbellsport, Fairwater, Mary Hill Park, Oakfield, St. Cloud and Waupun.
• 5 of 12 municipal water systems in Fond du Lac County have a wellhead protection ordinance: Campbellsport, Mary Hill Park, Oakfield, St. Cloud and Waupun.
• Fond du Lac County has adopted an animal waste management ordinance.

MONEY SPENT ON CLEANUP

• Over $36 million have been spent on petroleum cleanup in Fond du Lac County from leaking underground storage tanks, which equates to $365 per county resident.
• No municipal water systems in Fond du Lac County have spent money to reduce nitrate levels.

GROUNDWATER USE  

• From 1979 to 2005, total water use in Fond du Lac County has increased from about 16.4 million gallons per day to about 19.1 million gallons per day through 2000. Total water use in 2005 decreased to 13.3 million gallons per day.*
• The increase in total water use through 2000 is due to an increase in domestic, industrial, and commercial use; this despite a decrease in public use and losses. Total water use in 2005 decreased due to domestic, industrial, and commercial use, with an increase in irrigation.
• The proportion of county water use supplied by groundwater has been consistently about 99% during the period 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 Fond du Lac County can be seen in the FULL REPORT or accessed through the map link above.

GROUNDWATER QUALITY

• 92% of 368 private well samples collected in Fond du Lac County from 1990-2006 met the health-based drinking water limit for nitrate-nitrogen.  
• A 2002 study estimated that 33% of private drinking water wells in the region of Wisconsin that includes Fond du Lac 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.   
• There are no atrazine prohibition areas in Fond du Lac County.
• 79% of 34 private well samples collected in Fond du Lac County met the health standard for arsenic.

POTENTIAL SOURCES OF CONTAMINANTS

• There are 102 open-status sites in Fond du Lac County that have contaminated groundwater and/or soil. These sites include 43 Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) sites, 52 Environmental Repair (ERP) sites, 3 spill sites and 4 Voluntary Party Liability Exemption (VPLE) sites.   
• There are 9 concentrated animal feeding operations in Fond du Lac County.
• There are no licensed landfills in Fond du Lac County.
• There is 1 Superfund site in Fond du Lac County.

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