Iowa well water
Many Iowans Ignore High Nitrate, Bacteria Threats In Their Wells
|
But sometimes southwest Iowans don’t take action to clean their drinking water supply even when they test their private wells and find unsafe water.
Adair County
Past Studies Show Contamination Levels In Iowa’s Rural Wells
|
The most recent statewide study of Iowa’s private wells, the Iowa Statewide Rural Well Water Survey Phase 2, found that nearly half of wells had detectible levels of nitrogen, bacteria or arsenic.
Crisis in our Wells
Building A Database For Iowa’s Wells
|
Testing on private wells through the Iowa’s Grants to Counties program is recorded in a Private Well Tracking System database maintained by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The database, in use since 2003, also includes information about things like well depth, age, location and construction, when it is known.
Iowa Environment
Crisis In Our Wells: Iowa’s Private Well Water Often Goes Untested, Presenting Unknown Health Risks
|
Many Iowans may not know what is in their water because their wells’ water quality is unregulated. Moreover, many well owners IowaWatch spoke with during an investigation this past year in counties across southwest Iowa said they largely were unconcerned about their wells, even though tests revealed high levels of nitrates and bacteria in some of their wells.
Some Private Well Water Quality Regulations Exist In Iowa
|
Iowa law does not require well water quality to meet any drinking water standards but wells fall under a handful of different regulations.
Potential Contaminants In Your Iowa Well Water
|
A consumer information booklet produced by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources lists potential contaminants that include nitrate, bacteria, sulfur, fluoride, arsenic, lead and radionuclides, which are carcinogenic radioactive elements that occur as uranium and thorium isotopes decay.
Brittany Robb
Podcast: What Iowa Does To Keep Contaminants Out Of Our Drinking Water
|
This might be hard to believe but the stuff we flush can affect our drinking water. This IowaWatch Connection podcast expands on a story we first reported in August.
Health
The Stuff We Flush Could Come Back To Haunt Us When We Drink Water
|
Caffeine and a drug used to regulate blood sugar levels for people with Type 2 diabetes wash down the drain every day to become some of the most common unregulated contaminants in Iowa’s public drinking water, an IowaWatch investigation revealed.
Center News
IowaWatch Reporter Earns Fund For Investigative Journalism Grant
|
The Fund for Investigative Journalism has awarded IowaWatch’s Lauren Mills a $5,000 grant to support a journalism project in which she will examine Iowa’s water quality. This marks the third time the organization has given an IowaWatch reporter a grant and the second time it has given one to Mills, who is IowaWatch’s assistant editor, data analyst and reporter.
Blog
Listen To The KXIC Podcast: Regular IowaWatch Appearance Features Investigation Into Lake Algae
|
IowaWatch assistant editor and data analyst Lauren Mills and Iowa City Press-Citizen reporter Stephen Gruber-Miller were guests on the Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015, “Your Town” segment of Jay Capron’s morning show on KXIC radio, AM 800, in Iowa City.