When it comes to our drinking water, Wisconsin has options.
But as cities grow, and the demand for water increases, groundwater wells get deeper, and serious health risks--like the radioactive carcinogen radium--rise to the surface.
In 2006, experts say 42 of the state's public water supply systems reported radium levels three times the EPA's limit of 5 picocuries per liter (pCi/L).
Now, in an effort to find a solution, many communities are setting their sights on Lake Michigan.
Wisconsin is home to groundwater wells of all shapes and sizes--from shallow glacial aquifers, to those in the deep sandstone.
"In other cases, your next door neighbor might have a well that's 500-600 ft. Deeper than yours," say Dr. John Luczaj, professor of UW Green Bay's Dept. of Natural and Applied Sciences.
In Northeast Wisconsin, it's that deep sandstone aquifer that Luczaj says, for one reason or another, is preserving radium.
"And radium as existed in this aquifer for probably millions of years," adds Luczaj. "It's a natural metal that's produced by the decay of uranium."
The state is actually home to an underground arc-shaped belt from Marinette, to Milwaukee, known as the "radium belt," where experts say deeper wells come with the promise of radium contamination.
Dr. Luczaj and Kevin Masarik, of UW Steven's Point Center for Watershed Science and Education, published their findings on Wisconsin's radium issue in the journal Resources.
"We're concerned about public health," says Luczaj. "Radium is a naturally-occurring radioactive element, and if you ingest it, it behaves just like calcium. It can go into your bones, and it can influence human health by causing bone cancer."
It's that reality that's playing a key role in area municipalities' search for safe drinking water.
"We just didn't have an adequate [water] supply," says Dave Vaclavik, manager of the Central Brown County Water Authority.
In the end, Vaclavik says radium-tainted well water was only part of the reason six municipalities surrounding Green Bay joined forces in the early 2000's.
"For the most part, I think the issue became pretty clear when we discovered that we just didn't have enough water to be able to pull out," says Vaclavik, "and then the treatment issues were almost secondary."
Since September of 2007, Vaclavik says a 65-mile, $130 million pipeline, connecting Brown County to Lake Michigan, in Manitowoc, has been the answer.
"Water quality noticeably improved," says Vaclavik.
The pipeline is also benefiting the area's once overused aquifers, as the demand for them goes down "by millions of gallons per day," says Luczaj. "The most recent one was a reduction of 12 million gallons a day pumping from the deep aquifer. We have a choice," he adds, referring to Lake Michigan, "not everyone has that choice."
But in homes where treating water for radium is the best option, Dr. Luczaj says there are pros and cons to one's options, which include reverse osmosis, and using a water softener.
"Whether you have reverse osmosis, you waste extra water. If you have a water softener, you produce a lot of salt," says Luczaj. "That salt goes into a sewer, or septic system, and that salt either ends up in Lake Michigan, or it ends up in the shallow aquifer."
In Ledgeview, towering structures at the top of Scray Hill Road contain 11 1/2 million gallons of stored water for the surrounding communities.
That's enough for a few days or so of emergency uses if the pipeline had an issue, and experts say just part of a solution in a future where water conservation is only becoming more critical.
"We all have a backup capacity, and the ability to provide that," adds Vaclavik. "The groundwater that we have is safe to drink."
As more municipalities turn to multi-million dollar capital projects for future water security, Vaclavik says the rate hikes that typically follow will only remind people of the cost of wasted water.
"Continued conservation is going to be the way of the future," says Vaclavik.
For a list of helpful water conservation tips, head here.
THE COST OF RADIUM TREATMENT ELSEWHERE:
Experts say there is no state requirement to test for radium in private wells, and testing for it can cost up to $200.
According to a study published in the journal Resources by Dr. Luczaj, and Kevin Masarik of UW Stevens Point Center for Watershed Science and Education, the cost of dealing with radium was a significant problem for the City of Fond du Lac, as well.
In 2009, the city spent more than $32 million to upgrade its water supply for its 43,000 residents, and agreed to pay $35,000 to settle claims with the Justice Department.
The City of Waukesha, near Milwaukee, currently has an application pending to divert water from Lake Michigan to solve its radium problem, which is meeting roadblocks for many reasons, including the fact that it sits outside of the Lake Michigan Drainage Basin. If approved, it could cost Waukesha $206 million.
