Q. When will construction begin on the pipeline?
A. Construction has already started and will be completed approximately mid-May 2007.

Q. Who should I contact if I Have a Question or comment about construction or the project in general?
A. Dave Vaclavik is the Water Authority's manager and is the person you should contact. He can be reached at (920) 330-9051 or via email at dvaclavik@publicmanagementpartners.com.

Q. When will I have Lake Michigan water running to my home?
A. Water will be running to the communities in spring 2007.

Q. Why can we no longer use the St. Peters aquifer for water?
A. Studies have shown that groundwater will not be able to provide for the long-term water quantity needs of the six communities. As demand increases, additional wells will have to be drilled. This will further lower the water table. The Authority is also very concerned about water quality. Radium levels in the water are higher than will be allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by December 2006.

Most municipal wells in the area do not meet water quality standards set by the EPA for radium. To meet the water quality standards established by the EPA, costly new treatment facilities would have to be built. It will cost the municipalities millions of dollars for additional treatment just to meet the radium standards. There will also be added operation and maintenance costs associated with treatment for radium required of the individual water utilities

Q. Why can't we just make the wells deeper or build more wells?
A. There are major costs associated with putting in new wells. Pumping yields from wells decrease as the depth of the wells are lowered because of the lowering of the water table. The lower the water table is, the longer distance the water has to be pumped back up to the surface for use. This requires additional costs for energy. The pumping yields will continue to decrease while the pumping costs of the wells will increase. Municipalities will be paying more and getting less. More importantly, the aquifer in this area will not be able to yield the amount of water needed to supply municipal demand. The price of water will rise and communities will not be able meet the demands of the residents, businesses and industries.

Q. With a municipal system, will I still be able to use my own private well?
A. For those municipalities with a combination of municipal and private water wells, the municipality will determine if, where and when it will extend municipal water service within the community boundaries. When municipal water service is extended to an area within the municipality, the municipality will determine if individual private wells in that area can continue to be used for non-potable uses such as farming, watering lawns, washing cars, etc.

Q. December 2006 was the deadline established for Wisconsin communities to comply with federal radium standards. Compliance is enforced by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR). With the completion schedule moved to spring 2007, how does this affect the municipalities and its water users?
A. The original completion date for the Authority’s project was December 2006. However, construction challenges with both the Fox and Manitowoc River crossings have led the Authority to reschedule the completion date for spring 2007. The Authority made a good faith effort to complete the project prior to the deadline and ninety-nine percent of the pipeline construction is completed. The Authority is working cooperatively with WDNR to keep them updated on the project’s progress and no WDNR fines associated with the compliance deadline are currently anticipated by the Authority for not making the December 2006 compliance deadline.

Q. I own an individual well. Am I impacted by water quality?
A. Yes. Individual well owners within Brown County have had problems with water quality in the past and will likely have problems in the future as additional wells are drilled. Again, there is no way to know if your individual well water is safe unless you have it tested at regular intervals.

Q. What are the advantages of receiving water from a public system rather than from a privately owned well?
A. Municipal water systems are government regulated and therefore, must test for water quality on a regular basis and meet water quality standards. Any problem with water quality or mandated compliance with stricter water quality standards can be more easily and cost effectively corrected by municipal systems where economies of scale come into play. Any problems that an individual well owner has due to failure of the well, lack of water quantity or poor water quality must be addressed by the individual well owner.

Q. What does purchasing water from Manitowoc mean to residents?
A. Because of the abundance of water available, those water users presently receiving water from a municipal water supply system will not have to worry about water shortages or potential water bans or curtailment of use. In addition, water quality will meet all state and federal water quality standards.

Q. I currently use a water softening system. Will I need to continue using this system with the new water supply from Lake Michigan?
A. While many residents currently use water softeners because of the poor water quality, the water supplied by the Central Brown County Water Authority will be much better and less hard. Residents may find that future use of a water softener is not necessary. However, water hardness and taste is an individual preference and some customers may choose to continue to use their water softeners.

Q. Who do I contact if I have a comment or concern regarding construction?
A. You can either contact the inspector or contractor working on the area where you concern is or you can contact CBCWA Managers Dave Vaclavik or Barbara Grant at (920) 434-9051. To contact the inspector or contractor, please click the Construction schedules link and then click on the constructions contacts link.