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The water a person in Door County drinks today could have been on Earth's surface five days ago. Our daily activities affect our ground water in Door County more than most people realize due to our shallow, natural filtration system. Everyday we turn on the faucet for one routine event or other without even thinking about where the water is coming from, what is in it, it's scarcity or its preciousness. Door County is very lucky to have the amount of safe drinking water we do. However, it is not unlimited and can be greatly affected by everyday actions. It is our most valuable resource and it needs to be taken care of. This simply means proper maintenance and installation of septic systems and plumbing utilities along with safe agricultural practices and products, among other things. Drinking water is more than just turning on the faucet in the morning. To keep it readily available we must keep maintenance of our systems on our priority lists.

The lists of pollutants that our drinking water should be tested for includes; bacteria such as fecal coliform and ecoli, lead, arsenic, and nitrates. Fecal coliform and ecoli must be zero p.p.m. (parts per million) in groundwater. Lead must be less than five p.p.m., arsenic less than two p.p.m., and nitrates must be less than, ten p.p.b. (parts per billion). The legal level for arsenic was just lowered so many municipal wells and systems will have a hard time meeting that standard. In Door County bacteria, lead arsenic and nitrates are the main pollutants. The lead arsenic and nitrates occur because of commonly accepted past practices in agriculture and orchards where the state agricultural department, said lead arsenic solution was best for controlling diseases in orchards. Lead arsenic was also used for the same purposes on Washington Island for potato crops. It has now seeped into the ground water. Lead is especially dangerous because it builds up in a person's body instead of passing through. It mostly affects the nervous system, targeting the brain.

Door County, though we generally have good drinking water, is especially susceptible to groundwater pollution because of our shallow amounts of soil. Three feet of good soil can filter sewage to the point where it could then be treated for drinking water. The bacteria help eat away pollutants and during treatments with ultra-violet light the bacteria are killed. The natural filtration system is a valuable resource, however, because of our minimal topsoil pollutants that aren't naturally filtered, can seep through the soil and into our aquifers. There are so many everyday substances and routine activities that can affect our ground water that we must watch including silt, septic systems, highway salts and bad agricultural practices. Today tests are even finding medicines and hormones in the ground water. This will be a huge problem for the U.S. in the future. Fish were found in the Mississippi River that started their life male but because of all the female hormones that weren't used up in women's bodies were passed into the water system, where the fish ended up having female organs. Also because of all the antibiotics ending up in the water bacteria are then mutating to become immune to them. Another product that is in 30% of our ground water is the chemical phthalate, that makes plastics soft for products such as water bottles and plastic bags. These are just a few problems our society will face in the near future.

In Door County the major pollutants of ground water are heavy fertilizer usage and old poorly kept septic systems. The solutions are simply regulation of the fertilizer use and maintenance of the septic system. Farmers will just have to watch what they put on their fields and make sure the compounds are safe. Technology has taught us that septic systems do a very good job of keeping the ground water clean if the soils surrounding it are good and it is properly maintained. We are very lucky to have our individual wells in Door County. They do provide us with very safe, pure water for the most part.

If one well gets contaminated its not too big a deal seeing as just those who use that well get sick. On the other hand in a city system, if one source becomes infected with a bacterium the whole city is affected. For example Milwaukee had the largest mass poisoning in the history of this country. A water-born bacterium, known as cryptosporidium, affected 400,000 and killed 186 people, where with a single-well system the extent of contamination is much less. When things go wrong it generally it is because of poor maintenance or improper installation. Many times when septic systems are capped incorrectly spiders and earwigs find dark, damp cracks to hide in. Mice can even get in and then these organisms die and fall in the water, and well, would you drink a glass of water with a dead mouse in it? One mouse dropping could contain several hundred cryptosporidium or giardia, which could in turn contaminate the drinking water making those who own the well sick. So there are reasons for keeping tabs on your septic system and for laws about illegal plumbing. Incorrect installation of a septic system or other plumbing utilities could cause major problems in the future for those in contact with the contaminated source.

Solutions are simple. Those in the sanitation business strongly stress proper maintenance. Septic systems can work as well as an owner allows. Keeping up a system cannot stay out of sight and out of mind. It is just one part of the solution to ground water pollution. To many it might be an inconvenience, however, it is a small price to pay for clean water. Most people don't think about having clean water because it has always been there for us any time we want a drink or shower. It's taken for granted now but what if one-day typhoid fever or hepatitis started killing thousands like they used to? Plumbers and those who test ground water have prevented more spread of disease than doctors just by keeping our water free from these diseases. By keeping our septic systems in good working order our most valuable resource can stay pure.
 

Door County Environmental Council
P O Box 114, Fish Creek WI 54212
Phone: 920-743-6003 | FAX: 920-743-6727
Info@dcec-wi.org