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. Walworth County has 16 municipal water systems.  

GROUNDWATER PROTECTION POLICIES   

• 11 of 16 municipal water systems in Walworth County have a wellhead protection plan: Darien, East Troy, Elkhorn, Fontana, Genoa City, Lake Geneva, Town of Lyons, Pell Lake, Sharon, Whitewater and Williams Bay.
• 8 of 16 municipal water systems in Walworth County have a wellhead protection ordinance: East Troy, Fontana, Genoa City, Lake Geneva, Town of Lyons, Pell Lake, Sharon and Whitewater.
• Walworth County has adopted an animal waste management ordinance.

MONEY SPENT ON CLEANUP

• Over $24 million has been spent on petroleum cleanup in Walworth County from leaking underground storage tanks, which equates to $241 per county resident.
• 1 municipal water system in Walworth County has spent money to reduce nitrate levels.

GROUNDWATER USE   

• From 1979 to 2005, total water use in Walworth County has increased from about 10.0 million gallons per day to 15.3 million gallons per day.*
• The increase in total water use over this period is due to increases in all use categories.
• The proportion of county water use supplied by groundwater has increased from around 89% to 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 Walworth County can be seen in the FULL REPORT or accessed through the map link above.

GROUNDWATER QUALITY

• 90% of 340 private well samples collected in Walworth County from 1990-2006 met the health-based drinking water limit for nitrate-nitrogen.  
• A 2002 study estimated that 21% of private drinking water wells in the region of Wisconsin that includes Walworth 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.   
• 5,128 acres of land in Walworth County are in atrazine prohibition areas.
• 76% of 33 private well samples collected in Walworth County met the health standard for arsenic.

POTENTIAL SOURCES OF CONTAMINANTS

• There are 172 open-status sites in Walworth County that have contaminated groundwater and/or soil. These sites include52 Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) sites, 62 Environmental Repair (ERP) sites, 56 spill sites and 2 Voluntary Party Liability Exemption (VPLE) sites.  
• There are 3 concentrated animal feeding operations in Walworth County.
• There is 1 licensed landfill in Walworth County.
• There is 1 Superfund site in Walworth County.

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