Drinking Water: Information for Health Professionals

This page contains tools and resources on drinking water topics for environmental and public health professionals.

A well for drinking water.

The Private Well Toolkit includes fact sheets on common private well contaminants, printable posters, a treatment device guide, quick connect cards, updated webpages, and links to related partner resources.

Contaminant fact sheets and webpages

The contaminant fact sheets describes when private well users should test, how to interpret results, and actions to take. Each fact sheet also includes a resource guide with links to additional information. All fact sheets are available in English, Spanish, and Hmong.

For each contaminant, there is also an accompanying webpage. Each page includes information from the fact sheet, along with additional information about the contaminant, such as expanded background on the substances, other exposure routes, and actions to reduce exposure from these routes.

Printable posters

These posters can be printed on a standard printer. They are available in English and Spanish.

Guides and Quick Connect Cards

  • Water Treatment Devices for Private Well Contaminants Guide, P-03494: This guide describes how treatment devices work and includes a table indicating which treatment devices are best for which common contaminant. The guide is available in English, Spanish, and Hmong.
  • Nitrate Quick Connect Cards, P-02559A: These cards are a great complement to Nitrate Health Effects Poster as they highlight the main health risk of nitrate in private well water and provides links to more information. The cards can be printed on a standard printer and are available in English and Spanish.

Partner resources

The Wisconsin Well Testing Access Program (WellTAP) Toolkit includes informational resources and customizable outreach tools to help local and tribal health departments (LTHDs) understand, access, and share the program.

Program overview

WellTAP is an expansion and rebranding of DHS' fee-exempt private well testing program. The goal of WellTAP is to provide private well testing for at risk groups that are unable to do so themselves.

WellTAP Logo Black
Logo for LTHDs to use when branding WellTAP resources.

WellTAP provides no cost testing to private well users where their primary well serves a key target group and a financial, mental, or other burden prevents them from testing on their own. The key target groups include people who are pregnant, children 12 and under, and people who are immunocompromised.

Examples of people who are immunocompromised include those undergoing active cancer treatments, people taking immunosuppressive therapy due to an organ or bone marrow transplant, or those that are being treated with biologic therapies that affect the immune system. People who have cancer, an autoimmune disease (such as Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, or lupus), have advanced or untreated HIV, or are over the age of 65 can also be immunocompromised.

Informational resources

Customizable outreach tools

Faster return shipping

With the rollout of WellTAP program, the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) has been taking steps to improve the delivery times of fee-exempt samples.

  • WSLH is setting up a program with UPS and FedEx to provide WellTAP participants with pre-paid shipping labels.
  • This program will allow for next-day delivery of samples for all UPS shipments and most FedEx shipments.
  • WLSH will be reaching out to LTHDs with more information shortly.
  • For questions in the interim, contact Marty Collins (WSLH) at Martin.Collins@slh.wisc.edu.

A water tower.

Resources for public water users include contaminant-specific fact sheets, a lead in drinking water poster for display, and action guides with steps on how users can protect themselves from specific contaminants.

Contaminant fact sheets

  • Manganese in Public Water, P-45103b: This fact sheet describes what manganese is, when a water system would issue a do not drink notice, and what actions the public should take if a notice is issued. It is available in English, Spanish, and Hmong.
  • Lead in Drinking Water, P-02602: This fact sheet describes actions that people should take to reduce their exposure to lead in drinking water. It is available in English, Spanish, and Hmong.

Printable poster

Lead in Drinking Water, P-02602A: This poster highlights actions to reduce exposure to lead from drinking water.

Action guides

Partner resources


Questions? Can't find what you're looking for? Contact us at dhsenvhealth@dhs.wisconsin.gov.

Glossary

 
Last revised October 21, 2024