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. Polk County has 12 municipal water systems.  

GROUNDWATER PROTECTION POLICIES   

• 7 of 12 municipal water systems in Polk County have a wellhead protection plan: Amery, Clear Lake, Dresser, Frederic, Luck, Milltown and Osceola.
• 3 of 12 municipal water systems in Polk County have a wellhead protection ordinance: Amery, Dresser, and Osceola.
• Polk County has adopted an animal waste management ordinance.

MONEY SPENT ON CLEANUP

• Over $8 million has been spent on petroleum cleanup in Polk County from leaking underground storage tanks, which equates to $195 per county resident.
• No municipal water systems in Polk County have spent money to reduce nitrate levels.

GROUNDWATER USE   

• From 1979 to 2005, total water use in Polk County has increased from about 5.4 million gallons per day to about 10.9 million gallons per day.*
• The increase in total water use over this period is due to primarily to increases in domestic, aquaculture, and public use and losses usage.
• The proportion of county water use supplied by groundwater has consistently been above 98% 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 Polk County can be seen in the FULL REPORT or accessed through the map link above.

GROUNDWATER QUALITY

• 91% of 783 private well samples collected in Polk County from 1990-2006 met the health-based drinking water limit for nitrate-nitrogen.  
• A 2002 study estimated that 25% of private drinking water wells in the region of Wisconsin that includes Polk 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 Polk County.
• 94% of 18 private well samples collected in Polk County met the health standard for arsenic.

POTENTIAL SOURCES OF CONTAMINANTS

• There are 57 open-status sites in Polk County that have contaminated groundwater and/or soil. These sites include 29 Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) sites, 27 Environmental Repair (ERP) sites and 1 spill site.   
• There are 4 concentrated animal feeding operations in Polk County.
• There are no licensed landfills in Polk County.
• There are no Superfund sites in Polk County.

return to top