County finding “astronomical” amounts of metals in ground water

La Crosse County one of five in
nation to receive grant to test water

There’s metal in the water in La Crosse County. A surprising amount of metal, in fact.

“Some of them were just astronomical amounts of metal in the drinking water and metals could be lead, copper, arsenic and a variety of other things,” Jim Steinhoff with the La Crosse County Health Dept. said. “We were quite surprised, actually, to see these things.”

The area gets most of its drinking water from underground, so the county is taking steps to be sure that water is safe.  

The CDC has given La Crosse County a $650,000, five-year grant – $131,000 per year – to find areas where groundwater is contaminated. The county is just one of five in the nation to receive such a grant for special ground-water monitoring.

“We’re hoping to offer arsenic testing from our lab to reduce the cost of what it would typically cost someone today,” Steinhoff said.

That means those using a private well can get help testing it from the county. 

Steinhoff says families who find contamination through the program can opt to dig a new well, have their current well disinfected or choose other options.

“Some people might choose to not spend money and go with bottled water,” Steinhoff said, “and that could be a good outcome for certain people, rather than drink highly contaminated water.”