Public Health Madison & Dane County is offering free private well water testing to impacted Dane County residents following last week’s floods.
Torrential rains flooded many parts of west Madison and Dane county last week, causing both Gov. Scott Walker and Dane County Executive Joe Parisi to declare states of emergency.
In response, Public Health Madison & Dane County (PHMDC), a local health department run by Dane County, announced Monday that it is teaming up with the Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene and Wisconsin Department of Health Services to offer free and expanded testing services to private well owners affected by the floods.
“We want to make water testing for well owners hit hardest by the flooding as easy as possible for folks,” said Doug Voegeli, Environmental Health Director for PHMDC. “Doing this testing is crucial for making sure that your water is safe since drinking water contaminated with bacteria can cause illness.”
There are approximately 23,000 private wells in Dane County, and PHMDC estimates that about 10,000 private wells are in or near areas impacted by the floods.
The National Weather Service in Milwaukee reported that an estimated 11-15 inches of rain fell from Monday afternoon to Tuesday morning. If confirmed, it is the heaviest rainfall in 24 hours since 1946, when Mellen, Wis. received 11.72 inches of rain.
Initial damage estimates exceeded $100 million, according to a Tweet by Parisi. Dane County Emergency Management officials evacuated residents in towns near Madison, including Black Earth and Mazomanie, in response to overflowing rivers and rising waters. The heavy rains washed away parts of Highway 14, which runs west from Madison.
Dane County residents affected by the floods can pick up free well water testing kits at any of 8 locations across Dane County until September 6:
State Bank of Cross Plains
1205 Main St, Cross Plains
9:00 am – 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday
Middleton Town Hall
7555 Old Sauk Rd, Verona
8:00 am – 4:00 pm, Monday through Thursday
8:00 am – 12:00pm, Friday
Black Earth Village Office
1210 Mills St, Black Earth
8:00 am – 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday
Mazomanie Village Hall
133 Crescent St, Mazomanie
7:30 am -4:00 pm, Monday through Wednesday
7:30 am – 7:00 pm, Thursday
7:30 am – 4:00 pm, Friday
Montrose Town Hall
1341 Diane Ave, Belleville
8:00 am – 4:30 pm, Monday through Thursday
Verona Town Hall
7669 County Highway PD, Verona
8:00 am – 2:00 pm, Monday through Friday
Madison – Public Health Madison & Dane County Laboratory
8:00 am – 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday
City-County Building, 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Room 516B, Madison
Madison – Public Health Madison & Dane County Environmental Health Office
7:45 am – 4:15 pm, Monday through Friday
2300 S. Park St., Suite 2022, Madison
For more information, see PHMDC’s full announcement here.
