Who Is Dr. Waters?

doctor water

The Dr. Waters Program is a pro-active educational effort that encourages local residents to maintain the high quality water found within the Brodhead watershed. The Dr. Waters Program is a component of Brodhead Creek Regional Authority (BCRA). BCRA is a public non-profit water & wastewater company.

Water pollution affects everything living within our area. Water pollution not only affects us locally but all of those living downstream. Unmaintained septic systems, excessive lawn and garden products and improper disposal of household wastes all play a part in degrading our water quality.

The Dr. Waters program began in 2006 thanks to a special group of people called the Source Water Protection Team and a $200,000 Growing Greener grant received by BCRA. Most of the grant funds were used to conduct a study of the Brodhead Creek by hydrogeologists. Some of the grant funds were used to hire a part-time Source Water Protection Educator (SWPE). BCRA has contributed a considerable sum of its own money towards this study and the Dr. Waters Program.

 
The study by hydrogeologists on how surface and groundwater moves around the BCRA facility is important to both water quality and safety from a major pollution event like a chemical spill. Some residents may remember our now-famous dye testing in the Brodhead Creek.
 
dye testing

Dye testing is important for two reasons. First it gives BCRA a very accurate time of travel. Dye testing tells us how long we have to react if a pollution event were to happen upstream from BCRA's facility. Dye testing also tells us if water from the stream influences water from our wells which are located near the Brodhead Creek.

 
 
Education of local residents on what they can do to reduce water pollution is the main thrust of the Dr. Waters Program. Water pollution is not a single event but rather the combined total of each individual. It is important for all of us to be good land stewards to ensure safe water for our own watershed, for future generations and for those living downstream!