20 August 2019

Manure-laden tap water in rural Wisconsin

"Kewaunee County conservation officer Davina Bonness collected this tap water from a homeowner in 2016. It contained animal waste that matched manure spread on a nearby farm field."
As reported by the Wisconsin State Journal:
The majority of private wells in southwestern Wisconsin are substantially polluted with fecal matter as concerns intensify over pollution of rural drinking water, according to a new study.
Results from the independent study released Aug. 1 indicated that 32 of 35 wells — or 91% — contained fecal matter from humans or livestock, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
“As a researcher of groundwater for 25 years now, I continue to be amazed by the level of fecal contamination in Wisconsin groundwater,” said Mark Borchardt, a research microbiologist for the U.S. Agricultural Research Service...

During testing in April, it was discovered that some of the wells contained illness-causing pathogens such as salmonella, rotavirus and cryptosporidium...

On July 31, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers proposed new rules aimed at farmers and their use of manure and fertilizer. The regulations would focus on the regions vulnerable to nitrates, another source of groundwater pollution.
But those measures will require authorization by the Republican-controlled Legislature.

3 comments:

  1. The likeness to rhabdomyolysis urine is uncanny...

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    1. That's why I blogged them next to one another. No cosmic implications - just a curious resemblance.

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  2. Just like with the tree root system, there is so much we still don't know, yet we bulldoze ahead with thousands of mammals eating, living, & defecting in a contained area, all for the sake of a yum yum burger (not a trademark, yet, or to the best of my knowledge).
    I did a stint of being a vegetable, nigh on 20 years, all because of a hot looking woman in a denim miniskirt (she went on to become a vegan and I went on without her, although it took 2 decades and that wasn't the reason) and even though I relished hopping back on the meat wagon, my recent heart bypass has left me wondering about the benefits of pleasing my mouth so much.
    I still eat them dead and diced animals but more and more I am replacing their flash with portobello mushrooms when I make a burger.
    Saving the world all by myself.

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