Keeping your water safe for cooking, bathing and other household uses is the Evansville Water and Sewer Utility’s (EWSU’s) top priority. To ensure your water is safe, we:
To comply with state and federal regulations, the Utility issues an annual report describing the quality of your drinking water. The purpose of the report is to raise your understanding of drinking water and the need to protect your drinking water sources.
View the latest Water Quality Report.
While EWSU’s system does not include any lead water main pipes, EWSU still tests drinking water for lead and copper. The Utility:
Lead is a naturally occurring element that has some beneficial uses, but it can be toxic to humans and animals. According to IDEM, childhood exposure to unsafe lead levels can cause learning disabilities, decreased growth, hyperactivity, dizziness, clumsiness, impaired hearing, brain damage, paralysis, and convulsions. In pregnant women, lead exposure can pass through the body to the unborn child, resulting in miscarriage or birth defects.
Even though the Utility’s water is treated for contaminants, lead still can enter your drinking water through your building’s own plumbing. The only way to be sure of the amount of lead in your water is to have it tested.
Several major retail stores, such as Lowe’s, Home Depot, Walmart, Menards, etc. sell water analysis kits. You can also have your water tested for lead and copper by contacting a laboratory certified to test for lead in drinking water. See the list of Indiana Certified Drinking Water Chemistry Laboratories.
In addition to testing our drinking water, EWSU regularly tests the lead and copper in water at high-risk homes in accordance with IDEM’s guidelines. Test results for these select homes are consistently below EPA’s requirements.
For more information about the Utility’s water quality, the annual Water Quality Report or testing your water for lead, please call EWSU’s Water Quality Manager at 812-428-0568.
