Healthy Homes Minnesota
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Environmental Health Division
Safe Drinking Water in Your Home
Clean and safe drinking water is essential to good health and an important part of a healthy home environment.
Annual Reports
Guide for Safe Drinking
The guide, "Drinking Water – keeping it safe for all of us," provides information on:
- Where our drinking water comes from,
- How our health is protected by testing and treating drinking water, and
- What steps we can take to protect drinking water now and for the future.
To learn more about safe drinking water in your home, see:
Protect and Conserve Drinking Water
Drinking water is a valuable resource that comes from rivers, lakes, and underground aquifers. We can take simple actions in our homes, yards, neighborhoods, and state to keep these waters clean and safe.
- Use water wisely and safely,
- Remove or manage possible contamination sources, and
- Plan for future generations.
Contaminants in Drinking Water
Drinking water can become contaminated with substances that may harm us. Some drinking water contaminants, like arsenic or manganese, are naturally occurring in the environment. Other contaminants come from products we use such as medicines, personal care products, lawn and garden products, and household cleaners. These contaminants are more likely to enter the water when we use or dispose of them incorrectly. MDH has additional guidance for unregulated contaminants to help Minnesotans better understand the safety of their drinking water.
Understanding Minnesota’s Drinking Water
Minnesota’s drinking water is provided to people in their homes and where they work and play. Public water systems supply 80 percent of Minnesota’s drinking water and the remaining 20 percent provided by private wells.
Public water supplies are regulated to meet standards of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Public water supplies are regularly tested for over 100 contaminants to ensure a safe drinking water supply. For more information on public drinking water, see Drinking Water Protection.
Private well owners must protect and maintain their well and are responsible for testing their own drinking water. Unused private wells should be properly sealed.