Brown & murky water

DNR tests tainted water in Kewaunee County

KEWAUNEE COUNTY, Wis. (WBAY) – Recent rainfall has left one Kewaunee County couple with tainted water. Not only is it undrinkable, but you wouldn’t want to wash your dishes or shower in it. Rob and Erika Balza live about a mile outside Luxemburg. When they went to brush their teeth before bed last night, they saw brown water that smelled like manure coming out of their bathroom faucet. The brown, murky water is also in their toilets.

“I mean it’s gotten to the point where the nitrates have gotten so bad in the water that twice now they’ve eaten through copper pipes in the basement,” Rob Balza said.

“I mean it’s gotten to the point where the nitrates have gotten so bad in the water that twice now they’ve eaten through copper pipes in the basement,” Rob Balza said.

“We have simply too much manure being spread over what is a very vulnerable geology in northeast Wisconsin,” said Luft.

“We have simply too much manure being spread over what is a very vulnerable geology in northeast Wisconsin,” said Luft.

Cattle, humans both help taint wells in Wisconsin's Kewaunee County

A Holstein steer from Kewaunee County at the Wisconsin State Fair. Cattle have a role in polluted wells in the county, as do humans, a new study says

A Holstein steer from Kewaunee County at the Wisconsin State Fair. Cattle have a role in polluted wells in the county, as do humans, a new study says

"Lee Luft, a member of the Kewaunee County Board and chairman of a county task force on groundwater, said the results will be construed as deflecting some of the criticism away from agriculture. He said, however, the study points to the region’s problems. “What we have on our hands here is a combination of problems: The ineffectiveness of some septic systems, but when there is significant groundwater recharge, what we see is a problem from bovine sources,” he said.