Water Department - Quality Report

This report is intended to provide you with important information about your drinking water and the efforts made by the City of Beatrice water system to provide safe drinking water. For more information regarding this report, contact: Steve Kelley at 402-228-5217.

If you would like to observe the decision-making processes that affect drinking water quality, please attend the regularly scheduled meetings of the Board of Public Works. If you would like to participate in the process, contact the General Manager to arrange to be placed on the agenda of the meeting of the Board of Public Works.

Source of Drinking Water
The sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and groundwater wells. As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally-occurring minerals and, in some cases, radioactive material, and can pickup substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity.

The source of drinking water used by the City of Beatrice is groundwater. This water is pumped from wells maintained by the City of Beatrice.

Source Water Assessment Availability
The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) has completed the Source Water Assessment. Included in the assessment is a Wellhead Protection Area map, potential contaminant source inventory, vulnerability rating, and source water protection information. To view the Source Water Assessment or for more information, please contact the Water Department or NDEQ at (402)471-6988.

Drinking water including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that water poses a health risk. More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791.

Contaminants that may be present in source water include:
Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations and wildlife.

Inorganic contaminants, such as salt and metals, which can be naturally occurring or result from urban storm water runoff, industrial, or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming.

Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban storm water runoff, and residential uses.

Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban storm water runoff, and septic systems.

Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally-occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.