What's in your water? Quality can be a concern for some

PART 2

How good is your water?

As the H20 flows across the state from west to east, and is drawn from underground up, where would yours rank?

“We’re actually really fortunate,” said Jesse Bradley, the director of the newly created Nebraska Department of Water, Energy, and Environment. “We have really good water quality overall.”

“Rural wells or municipal wells, it’s the same water quality,” said Adam Messenger, a Municipal Manager with Downey Drilling.

“99 percent of the water quality (issues) in our district is high nitrates,” Lyndon Vogt said, the General Manager of the Central Platte Natural Resources District.

“It really depends on where we are in the state as to what kind of quality of water we have,” said Dan Snow, a Laboratory Director and Research Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Nebraska Water Center.

“Most Nebraskans rely on ground water as their drinking water source, which is kind of rare that you can rely on ground water and not have to do significant treatment,” Bradley said.

Four out of five Nebraskans don’t have to worry about treatment, anyways. They have a city responsible for it. Geographically, a majority of the state is on their own.

“Unfortunately for the private well owners, the state doesn’t take such a proactive role in testing those 20 percent of the wells,” said Matt Manning, the Chief Water Officer for the NDWEE.

Randy Zmek was raised on a farm south of Archer, and has had troubling experiences with the water.

“Since I grew up on this farm, I buy cases of water and have a mini fridge in my shop so I have clean water.

“This filter might be maybe one month," Zmek shared while holding a filter covered in what he calls orange crud, also referred to as scale by scientists.

Zmek’s son and his family now live there, where different wells drilled on the property have presented varying H20 issues over the years.

“This well that we’re looking at right here? It’s not fit for humans or livestock because of the E. coli and coliform. The health lab didn’t take time to send the (water) test out, they called me directly and says, ‘Don’t you dare drink that water,’” said Zmek.

So what’s making the water bad? Well, it can be tough to pinpoint, because being exact is dependent on where you’re looking on the map.

“Everybody puts a lot of fertilizer on all their yards, industrial, farming, all those things we’re doing in Nebraska can affect the water quality," said Messenger.

For those living on their own wells, safety starts with being proactive.

“I really would encourage everyone to look at their water, whether it’s from a public water system or a private water system, what that water contains, and then just make sure that they’re treating it appropriately," said Snow. 

“If you’re drinking the water," added Vogt, "you need to make sure you know what’s in it, and it's safe."