Potable Water

Goal

To protect the citizens of McDonough County from contracting and transmitting waterborne illnesses by helping to provide and assuring safe water for drinking, culinary, and sanitary purposes.

What is potable water? Potable water means water that is safe for drinking and cooking.
How Does the McDonough County Health Department ensure potable water for its citizens?

Test kits are available at the McDonough County Health Department. Samples are screened for biological and chemical contamination. Coliform bacteria are used as an indicator for biological contamination and nitrate/nitrite is used as an indicator for chemical contamination. Test kits can be used for water supplies that are not public water systems.

    • What is a private water supply? A private water supply is any supply that is not a public water system, which provides water for drinking, culinary, and sanitary purposes and serves an owner-occupied single-family dwelling.
    • What is a semi-private water supply? A semi-private water supply is any supply that is not a public water system, which serves a segment of the public other than an owner-occupied single-family dwelling.
  • Non-Community Public Water Supplies:

Monitoring of non-community water supplies (NCPWS).

  • What is a NCPWS? A NCPWS is a system that is not a community water system, and has at least 15 service connections used by nonresidents, or regularly serves 25 or more nonresident individuals daily for at least 60 days per year.
  • Abandoned Well Sealing: Review plans to seal abandoned water wells, and perform inspections during sealing. The sealing form must be reviewed to ensure it meets Illinois Water Well Construction Code abandoned well sealing requirements.
  • Water Well Construction Permits: Perform a plan review and site evaluation prior to issuing a permit to construct a new water well.
  • Subdivision Plat Approval: Performs inspection of plats to be subdivided upon request of the McDonough County Plat Officer to determine the availability or feasibility of a potable water supply.
  • Real Estate Transactions: Inspects private water wells at rural properties and collects samples from those wells upon request.
  • Waterborne Illness: Monitor indicators of waterborne illness. Perform waterborne illness investigation in the event of an outbreak.
  • McDonough County Illinois Groundwater Protection Education Committee: The committee has been promoting the protection of groundwater and the education of citizens of McDonough County since the fall of 1994. Through the efforts of the committee, McDonough County has been designated as a Groundwater Guardian Community since 1996.
  • Consultations: Provide recommendations to the public regarding private water supplies, at their request.
  • Complaint investigations: Investigate complaints regarding private water supplies.
  • Education: Presentations and information provided to schools, organizations and the public for the protection of our water resources.

For more information please call 309-837-9951.