Kaukauna Water Department Improves Quality of Drinking Water (11/4/05)

This past summer, Kaukauna Utilities (KU) completed an extensive upgrade to its water filtration plants to improve the quality of drinking water.

The reason for the upgrade was to achieve a reduction in the amount of radium, a naturally occurring element in the water supply, to a level that is in compliance with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) requirements. Under a voluntary Consent Order with the WDNR, KU accomplished compliance by replacing the anthrocite filter media in the iron filters with mangenese greensand. With these changes, KU reduced the amount of radium in the water supply to a level well below the WDNR maximum limits. At the same time, KU also reduced the amount of iron in the water supply.

Another aspect of the project was that all filter plants were updated with automatic controls for backwashing. Automatic backwashing is necessary as each plant's filtering system must be cleaned two times a week to ensure the proper removal of radium and iron from the water.

Just as has been done in the past and will be in the future, the employees of Kaukauna Utilities strive to deliver the best quality drinking water possible to you, the customer.

If you have any questions or concerns about our drinking water supply, please feel free to call Kevin Obiala at 462-0233.