A group of Wisconsin legislators spent more than five hours Thursday listening to experts, advocates and residents who gathered in Racine . The topic was water quality and how to improve it. Water quality has become a buzz phrase in Wisconsin. During his first state of the state report, Gov. Tony Evers declared 2019 "the year of clean drinking water." Weeks earlier Assembly Speaker Robin Vos began setting up a task force to determine the key sources of water contamination and ways to remedy them. READ: Scientist Hopes Study Helps Solve Kewaunee County Well Contamination Challenge The Speaker's Task Force on Water Quality has been traveling Wisconsin to gather input. The latest was Thursday in Racine where extra chairs had to be hauled into the cramped meeting room. Milwaukee resident Terry Wiggins traveled construction-strewn Interstate 94 to share her top water quality concern: “That we have a moral responsibility to improve the quality of the water coming through our pipes in

Milwaukee experienced the largest outbreak of cryptosporidium in the spring of 1993. The outbreak made 400,000 sick. Over 4,000 were hospitalized. And 104 deaths were recorded. It made a lasting impression for many who got sick or simply lived through it.

Some people are concerned about the many lead pipes that deliver water into older Milwaukee homes. Others applaud the city for tackling stormwater management through green infrastructure . But how is Milwaukee doing at creating a comprehensive water management plan? When it comes to water, Jenny Kehl has an unabashedly candid view on the importance of planning for today and the future. Kehl is a global water security scholar for UW-Milwaukee and associate professor at its School of Freshwater Sciences. » See More Project Milwaukee: Great Lakes, Troubled Waters Stories “I anticipate everyone wants the future generations of Wisconsin to be able to survive. There are some pretty serious challenges that we're facing. I think everyone wants us to address uncertainties and vulnerabilities," she says. Kehl says looking at water as a whole within a watershed is complex. Let’s take Milwaukee: You have to think about things like how water is treated before you drink it and then after you use it.

Wisconsin scientists are working on new ways to protect drinking and surface water from pollutants. They’re also investigating better methods of cleaning water that's already contaminated. But researchers say success may cost taxpayers more money. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Secretary Preston Cole has been promising to place a higher priority on good science when crafting policy. For example, he hopes better research will lead to cleaner drinking water. » See More Project Milwaukee: Great Lakes, Troubled Waters Stories "We have communities around this state that have lost surety about turning on their pipes and having fresh drinking water. In certain parts of the state, it's PFAs [chemicals used in firefighting foam and other products] — emerging contaminants. In the southwest, there's nitrate in drinking water. And lead laterals continue to wreak havoc on some of our urban and oldest cities around the state of Wisconsin," Cole explains. According to engineering professor

WUWM's Project Milwaukee series Great Lakes, Troubled Waters is examining the topic of clean water, or the lack thereof, in southeastern Wisconsin — particularly in a place like Milwaukee that considers itself to be a "water hub." Water hubs are places where industry, research, and academia converge in their efforts to create sustainable efforts or create new technology utilizing one of our most precious resources. » See More Project Milwaukee: Great Lakes, Troubled Waters Stories Dean Amhaus is president and CEO of The Water Council , a nonprofit organization that brings together these disparate entities. "We're not going out there and cleaning up the rivers and the lakes. But hopefully our technology can help the Milwaukee Water Commons or the Riverkeeper to be able to do a better job and a bigger impact," he explains. Amhaus says that people are looking to Milwaukee for solutions that local companies and universities are developing. "They're looking for business-to-business

Quality is perhaps the most important part of any water distribution system. Water utilities process every drop that makes it into our plumbing, which takes a lot of time and energy. One way to keep from overburdening the system is by reducing our consumption — what we know as "water conservation." Bill Graffin works for the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District , which works in wastewater treatment and conservation efforts in the Milwaukee area. Here are some helpful tips from Graffin on how you can conserve water at home. » See More Project Milwaukee: Great Lakes, Troubled Waters Stories 1. Collect and reuse rainwater Rainwater is not only healthier for your plants, it's healthier for our sewage system. Capturing rain in a bin or cistern helps divert large amounts of water from entering our sewers and gives more nutrients to plants. Just make sure you don't drink it. "You never know what's in that water without putting it under a magnifying glass," Graffin cautions. 2. Create a

In discussions about the health and safety of water, it’s typical to hear from experts, public health officials and government leaders. But you don't often get the opinions of younger people who are just beginning to learn and care about natural resources. Young people working with Cream City Conservation Corps are having some real conversations about the environment. August Ball leads the discussion at the group’s regular Tuesday night meeting in the Silver City neighborhood on Milwaukee's south side. » See More Project Milwaukee: Great Lakes, Troubled Waters Reports After noticing a disconnect between young people of color and the environment, Ball founded Cream City Conservation Corps. Much, she says, has to do with environmental racism: the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on people of color. For example, pollutants from power plant smokestacks that can contribute to asthma and other respiratory diseases. The Conservation Corps members range in age. Some are in high

Rainstorms are a challenge to clean water. They can cause flooding and potentially damaging runoff . But utilities, landscape architects and others are finding solutions — visible everywhere from the county grounds to your neighborhood ice cream shop. In 2011, MMSD built a large basin on the Milwaukee County Grounds. It's a 17-foot-deep sunken pool with grassy walls that, when full, looks like two connected natural lagoons. The basin can hold up to 315 million gallons of water. » See More Project Milwaukee: Great Lakes, Troubled Waters Reports Tom Chapman, project manager for the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD), says the intent of the project is "to store the water upstream so that it’s not in the flood plains, flooding structures downstream." "Depending on the size of the event, it could take a day or longer to fill up, and then it’s held back here for a number of days and released slowly through an outlet structure on the downstream side of the basin," he says. The

Both cryptosporidium and lead have threatened Milwaukee’s clean drinking water. While there are stark differences in the two water contaminants, what can we learn from how the city dealt with both? First, it’s important to state that cryptosporidium and lead are completely different. Crypto is a bacteria. Lead is a metal. Crypto has one parasitic source, while lead has many (paint, dust, dirt, pipes). Crypto makes people visibly sick, but lead can be in the body for a long time without showing any side effects. Both crypto and lead are widespread risks that reveal vulnerabilities in Milwaukee’s drinking water infrastructure. Let’s start by looking back at the cryptosporidium outbreak in the spring of 1993. “We had many people coming in with severe stomach issues, and the advice given out by a pharmacist or doctor would be told to drink water, stay hydrated, drink more water, take Imodium, you’ll feel better in a few days," recalls Dawn, a pharmacy technician in Milwaukee during the

When the Lead and Copper Rule was first issued in 1991, it put federal limits on the acceptable amount of these metals found in drinking water. Cities started testing their water. Researchers experimented with chemicals that could inhibit the corrosion of pipes — the main source of contamination. But for some cities, like Madison, Wis., that simply wasn’t enough. "[The Lead and Copper Rule] has a fundamental flaw, and that is: it's over-simplistic. It doesn't acknowledge the multiple factors by which lead and copper leave piping materials and get into the drinking water," says Abigail Cantor, the president of Process Research Solutions , a consulting firm based in Madison that specializes in drinking water quality. After extensive testing, Cantor found that Madison’s water could not be fully controlled without removing its lead pipes. So in 2001, the city took an uncommon step: it removed the pipes. Nearly two decades later, Milwaukee still has lead pipes. But, why? Cantor says the