Columbus Utilities

Water Quality Snapshot: Columbus Utilities

Columbus Utilities is a local-owned community water system that delivers drinking water to 5,173 residents in Columbus, Wisconsin (Columbia County) through 1,915 service connections. Its water is drawn from groundwater sources. EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System records 151 total violations for this system , of which 24 (16%) are health-based, meaning a contaminant exceeded an EPA Maximum Contaminant Level or a required treatment technique failed. A further 116 monitoring and reporting violations are on file. The most recent violation on record dates to 2023.

The most frequently cited contaminant at this system is Coliform (TCR), recorded in 13 violations (MCL, health-based). This system was sampled under EPA's UCMR5 PFAS monitoring program and no PFAS compounds were detected above the minimum reporting level.

Across Wisconsin, EPA tracks 10,988 public water systems serving 5,131,439 people, with 285,161 cumulative violations and 58,688 health-based violations on record. About 72% of systems in the state carry at least one violation, and state-wide the average per system is 26 violations. Statewide, 78 of 202 UCMR5-tested systems have reported PFAS detections (38.6%).

Columbus Utilities's 151 violations sit above the Wisconsin average.

All figures above are sourced directly from EPA SDWIS and UCMR5 public data releases and are updated as EPA publishes new reporting cycles.