Residents stunned after experts find dangerous substances in drinking water: 'No one's really given me a solution on what to do'

Wisconsin homeowners are facing a devastating reality: A new report shows that their drinking water — often from private wells — isn't actually safe to drink.

What's happening?

In Casco, Wisconsin, Tyler Frye thought he'd found his dream home when he bought a new house in 2022. But that dream soured quickly when his family's well water tested at 26.6 milligrams per liter of nitrate — more than double the Environmental Protection Agency's safe limit of 10 milligrams, according to Sentient Media.

While there are compensation grants for contaminated wells, Frye doesn't qualify based on income. "No one's really given me a solution on what to do," he told reporters.

He's far from alone. Roughly one in 10 Wisconsin residents relies on private wells with unsafe nitrate levels. The report from the Alliance for the Great Lakes found that over 90% of nitrate contamination comes from agricultural sources — mainly fertilizer and manure runoff.

Why is this concerning?

This isn't just an environmental issue — it's a human one. Exposure to nitrates raises the risk of serious health problems, including thyroid disease, birth defects, and "blue baby syndrome" in infants.

Because most Wisconsin homes rely on private wells, families like Frye's end up paying thousands for filters or bottled water.

It's a crisis hiding in plain sight, especially for rural communities that can't easily switch to a public water supply. Angela Blatt, senior agriculture policy manager at the Alliance for the Great Lakes, said addressing the pollution at its source will take a coordinated effort. "We are only going to see rising financial and human costs for this issue," she explained.

What's being done about it?

Local officials are trying a few fixes. Some counties have started offering free or low-cost well testing, and new grant funding is helping homeowners install better filters. The state's Well Compensation Grant Program recently loosened its rules so more families can qualify for help.

At the same time, farm groups and conservationists are teaming up to cut the pollution before it reaches the water — testing out smarter fertilizer use and planting cover crops that hold nutrients in the soil instead of letting them wash away.

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On a personal level, residents with private wells can test their water annually through local health departments. Affordable at-home test kits are also available online.

Elsewhere in the country, other communities are finding creative ways to keep their water safe — like the Iowa farmers using prairie strips to absorb runoff and the California towns upgrading old water systems to remove harmful contaminants. Together, these efforts point toward a cleaner, healthier future where no one has to question the water coming from their tap.

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