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Customers of the Milwaukee Water Works who live in Milwaukee, West Milwaukee, Greenfield, Hales Corners or St. Francis will soon be receiving, alongside their water bill, a report containing the water utility’s latest testing results. This annual “Consumer Confidence Report” is required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and shows that contaminants present in the utility’s drinking water meet 90 separate federal standards in 2010.

(illustration by Adrian Palomo)

Exact results are listed for 17 different contaminants. Those for radioactive metals commonly found in water fell below EPA limits. These tests, for radium and uranium, were conducted in 2008. Radium levels were about 20 percent of the federal maximum, and uranium levels were less than 1 percent of the max.

More recent tests show federally acceptable levels of metallic contaminants. Aluminum levels tested at about 30 percent of an “ideal goal” set by the EPA. Copper tested at about 4 percent of the ideal, and chromium tested at about 2 percent of its ideal.

Levels of lead, which leaches into water from pipes and water service lines, were 35 percent of the federal max, the limit allowed by the EPA. The agency sets an ideal goal of zero lead in drinking water.

Median levels of Trihalomethanes, suspected of being carcinogenic, were 9 percent of the federal max, and peak levels were 16 percent of the limit. Trihalomethanes are produced when chlorine, used in water purification, reacts with organic material. The EPA has not established an ideal goal for these compounds.

The Water Works takes its water from Lake Michigan and purifies it using ozone (which kills microorganisms, including bacteria), filtration and chlorination. Fluoride is added to the water to prevent tooth decay. Also added is a “phosphorus compound” that reduces pipe corrosion and the resulting lead contamination.

The Water Works says it’s invested $362 million in its infrastructure since the cryptosporidium outbreak of 1993. Cryptosporidium is a “protozoan,” a single-cell organism that can cause stomach and intestinal illness.

The utility says that although EPA only requires monitoring of 90 contaminants, the Milwaukee Water Works tests about 500 in total. “The monitoring is conducted as a precaution to ensure safe water,” says the report.

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