Drinking Water: Information for Health Professionals

This page contains tools and resources on drinking water topics for public health professionals.

Private Well Toolkit (2023 Revision)

This toolkit includes fact sheets on common private well contaminants, printable posters, a treatment device guide, quick connect cards, updated webpages, and links to related partner resources.

Contaminant fact sheets and webpages

The contaminant fact sheets describes when private well users should test, how to interpret results, and actions to take. Each fact sheet also includes a resource guide with links to additional information. All fact sheets are available in English, Spanish, and Hmong.

The accompanying webpages include the information in the fact sheet along with additional information about the contaminant such as expanded background on the substances, other exposure routes, and actions to reduce exposure from these routes.

Printable posters

These posters can be printed on a standard printer. They are available in English and Spanish.

Nitrate Health Effects, P-02559: This poster illustrates how nitrate can affect everyone.
Lead in Drinking Water, P-02602A: This poster highlights actions to reduce exposure to lead from drinking water.

Guides and Quick Connect Cards

Water Treatment Devices for Private Well Contaminants Guide, P-03494: This guide describes how treatment devices work and includes a table indicating which treatment devices are best for which common contaminant. The guide is available in English, Spanish, and Hmong.
Nitrate Quick Connect Cards, P-02559A: These cards are a great complement to Nitrate Health Effects Poster as they highlight the main health risk of nitrate in private well water and provides links to more information. The cards can be printed on a standard printer and are available in English and Spanish.

Partner resources

Drinking Water Tests for Private Wells (DNR): This fact sheet describes the tests that private well users should complete routinely along with tests they may want to consider testing for depending on factors in their area.
How to Read Your Private Well Water Lab Report Guide (UW Extension: This guide describes the different sections of a lab report are, defines the terms used, provides a step-by-step guide to determine if results indicate an public health issue, and provides details how to learn more.

We also have resources for public water users

Manganese in Public Water, P-45103b: This fact sheet describes what manganese is, when a water system would issue a do not drink notice, and what actions the public should take if a notice is issued. It is available in English, Spanish, and Hmong.
Lead in Drinking Water, P-02602: This fact sheet describes actions that people should take to reduce their exposure to lead in drinking water. It is available in English, Spanish, and Hmong.
Reducing PFAS in Your Drinking Water (P-03012): This guide describes the technologies that are available for removing PFAS from drinking water, factors to consider before installing a treatment device, treatment device comparison table, and treatment device recommendations.
Boil Water Notice Fact Sheet, P-44589 (PDF) - This fact sheet describes actions that people should take if a water system issues a boil water notice.