Source Water Protection
The Bryan Water Department has an excellent record of providing safe drinking water to the public, and we are continuing our efforts to ensure an abundant supply of clean water for the future. The Bryan Board of Public Affairs authorized a monthly surcharge on customers’ water bills — $0.75 for residential, $1.00 for commercial and industrial users — to finance source water protection programs. We are extremely dependent on our ground water supply; and therefore, we must protect it from contamination.
The Federal Safe Drinking Water Act requires states to establish a Source Water Protection Program to protect public water supply systems from contamination. The Ohio EPA oversees Ohio’s Source Water Protection Program.
The Bryan Water Department has prepared a Source Water Protection Plan. Preparation of this plan included
- determining where the ground water that supplies our city comes from
- delineating the Wellhead Protection Area*
- completing an inventory of potential pollutant sources within the Wellhead Protection Area
- developing a management strategy to protect the area from contamination
- implementing public education programs, and
- installing signs around the area to alert motorists they are entering a groundwater protection area and to report spills by calling 911
*A Wellhead Protection Area is defined as the land surface and subsurface area surrounding a wellfield through which water, or contaminants, can enter the ground and move toward the well field within five years.
Wellhead Protection Area (Map)
In addition to evaluating and protecting Bryan’s current well fields, BMU has initiated the development of an additional well field west of Bryan for future growth. BMU, on behalf of the City of Bryan, has also sought Sole Source Aquifer designation for a portion of the MICHINDOH Glacial Aquifer that supplies Bryan and the surrounding area with drinking water.
The MICHINDOH Glacial Aquifer is the source of drinking water for most of Williams County and portions of Defiance and Fulton Counties in Ohio. It is also the source of drinking water for parts of Branch, Hillsdale, and Lenawee Counties in Michigan; and portions of Steuben and Dekalb Counties in Indiana.
Public and private water systems in this area all depend on the same aquifer system for drinking water, and there are no economically feasible alternatives. That is why it is so important to preserve our groundwater and why properly plugging water wells are so necessary. If we are to have an abundant supply of clean water for the future, we must safeguard our aquifer from contamination. Click for a link to our Abandoning Water Wells Brochure
Proper management of our water supply will help ensure the prosperity of Bryan’s economy and the health of its residents.