Environment
As rains intensify, sewage surges into Wisconsin waters
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Climate change is bringing heavier rains, making it tougher to keep untreated sewage and stormwater out of the Great Lakes.
Failure at the Faucet
Most nitrate, coliform in Kewaunee County wells tied to animal waste
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The latest findings from a study of drinking water wells and their surroundings finds manure from cows that is stored or spread on farm fields poses the highest risk for certain contaminants.
Failure at the Faucet
Wisconsin misses chances to cut risk of lead exposure in drinking water
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Funding for childhood lead poisoning prevention is down in Wisconsin, and proposals to better protect children from lead in drinking water have stalled in the Legislature.
Failure at the Faucet
Milwaukee takes action to reduce lead in water; critics say it is not enough
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The city of Milwaukee, with more than 70,000 lead service lines, has taken several steps in the past year to lower residents’ exposure to lead in drinking water, but activists say the city has not done enough.
Failure at the Faucet
Wisconsin DNR fails to update lead testing guidance in wake of Flint crisis
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Nine months after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warned against flushing water systems before testing for lead, the state Department of Natural Resources has not yet passed that advice on to public water systems in Wisconsin.
Failure at the Faucet
‘Strict’ pesticide rules fail to erase threat to Wisconsin’s drinking water
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A 2007 survey of private drinking water wells found 1 out of 3 had pesticides or their breakdown chemicals; farm groups oppose push for tougher atrazine rules.
Failure at the Faucet
Wisconsin must do more to protect residents from lead in drinking water, DNR and Milwaukee leaders agree
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Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett acknowledges adding anti-corrosive chemicals, the main strategy to prevent lead in drinking water, is a “Band-Aid” approach.
Failure at the Faucet
Human waste pollutes some Wisconsin drinking water
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Failing septic systems, leaking public sewer pipes and landspreading of septic waste can introduce dangerous pathogens into both rural and urban water systems. Experts say Wisconsin needs tougher laws to protect Wisconsin drinking water from contamination by sewage and septic waste.
Failure at the Faucet
Bacteria in state’s drinking water is ‘public health crisis’
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Hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin residents are at risk of illness from waterborne pathogens in private and public drinking water supplies. Contamination by pathogens is of special concern because unlike pollution by metals or chemicals, pathogens can sicken people after just a single exposure.
Investigative Reporting + Art
For sale: Half a cow, one trout, one faucet and 1,000 wool balls
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They’ve traveled 1,000 miles across Wisconsin, drawing attention to important issues affecting the quality and supply of our state’s water. Now, four sculptures crafted by artist Carrie Roy are headed for the next stage in their adventure: They’re for sale.
Failure at the Faucet
Wisconsin strontium levels among highest in U.S. drinking water supplies
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Eastern Wisconsin has among the highest levels of the heavy metal strontium in drinking water. Limits may be on the way for this unregulated contaminant.
Failure at the Faucet
As wells go deeper, radium levels rise in state tap water
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As communities grow and pump more groundwater, radium from deep bedrock is contaminating dozens of water systems. The city of Waukesha wants to tap into Lake Michigan to solve its radium problem.