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Drinking Water
| There are a total of 27
private wells in Exeter drawing groundwater
from the Wood-Pawcatuck watershed. This water
has been qualified GAA by RIDEM, the highest
quality groundwater available. This groundwater
is the primary existing and future water supply
serving all of the homes and businesses in
Exeter. Therefore, its protection is paramount
to protecting clean drinking water for the
communities in this watershed. |
Click
on map to enlarge. Also, wellheads are clickable
in large map for more specific information
on each.
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81% of Exeter's population gets their
drinking water from private drilled wells and 15% from
private dug wells (Grow Smart RI). The rest of Exeter
receives drinking water from private community and non-community
wells, as pictured in the above map. It is estimated
that total domestic water use withdrawals is approximately
.37 million gallons/day.
Depending on where your well is located,
the soil through which your drinking water was filtered
(not necessarily on your land) could be affecting the
water quality. This is why it is important to be vigilant
about what land uses exist within your groundwater recharge
area because this is where the water is most susceptible.
If you are confused about some of the phrases we've
used, please link here.
Town Pizza
Non-community wellhead
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Currently, the Department of
Health is performing a Source
Water Assessment Program (SWAP) in conjunction
with URI Extensions and local volunteers in each
town in RI. The purpose of SWAP is to identify potential
sources of contamination to the actual wellhead,
as opposed to the groundwater the well is pumping.
For more information regarding sources of contamination
and the types of pollutants they could be releasing,
click here.
The results of Exeter's SWAP are shown in the enlarged
map above. Just click on any wellhead to see specific
information about it. |
| Protecting the groundwater
is an important and essential step in protecting
drinking water in Exeter, RI and in the rest of
the Wood-Pawcatuck watershed. For information regarding
"A Citizen's Guide to Groundwater Protection,"
click here.
In addition, the town of Exeter has implemented
a Groundwater Overlay Protection district in its
zoning regulations. Therefore,
by law, developments within this district must comply
with further specified restrictions (click here
for more information). |
Homestead
Restaurant Wellhead
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For most of the towns in RI, drinking
water is supplied to each home or business by a public
water supplier who is required to file a Water Supply
Management Report. This analysis deals with pumping
budgets, water availability, contamination and protection,
and growth issues as required by the Drinking Water
Act. That report is then submitted to the RI
State Water Resources Board for approval. However,
since the citizens and businesses of Exeter provide
their own water, there is no such plan dealing with
these pertinent issues. More information about RI's
water supply policies can be found here
but you must have Adobe
Acrobat to read it.
EPA's Safe Drinking Water hotline
is 1-800-426-4791 and for more information regarding
the EPA's safe drinking water recommendations and programs,
please see here.
To get involved with some of the
area's organizations devoted to the protection of drinking
water in the Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed, please link here.
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