Dublin requests help to protect water supply

The town of Dublin hopes its residents and businesses will help maintain a safe water supply.

The town’s drinking water is groundwater produced from local wells, according to a news release. That underground aquifer and the water supply wells must be protected from potential contamination.

Dublin has developed a Wellhead Protection Plan that was approved in August 2002 by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. The town’s local planning team has met regularly since that time, including a Nov. 15 meeting, to discuss wellhead protection, update the plan and implement management strategies to protect the town’s water source.

After the most recent meeting, notification letters are being sent to potential contamination sources requesting they contact the town if a spill does occur. 

The Wellhead Protection Plan is available for review at the town hall, 2250 E. Cumberland St., Dublin. Educational pamphlets about protecting water sources are available at town hall and on the town’s website, https://www.dublinin.org/water-report.html.

The town offers the following tips to protect the drinking water source:

• Learn about groundwater and your water source and participating in watershed cleanup activities.
• Recycle used oil, automotive fluids, batteries and other products. Do not dispose of hazardous products in toilets, storm drains, wastewater systems, creeks, alleys or the ground because it pollutes the water supply. Refer to waste-not.org for recycling locations and collection events.
• Limit use of chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides and other hazardous products, and follow label directions.
• Check cars, boats, motorcycles and other machinery for leaks and spills. Collect leaks with a drip pan, and clean up spills by absorbing the spill. Do not rinse with water or allow the spill to soak into the ground.
• Inspect and service septic systems every three years.
• Plug abandoned wells because they provide a direct route for surface contamination to reach groundwater supplies. Receive assistance from a licensed well driller.
• Keep in mind that groundwater aquifers collect and store rainwater and snowmelt that soaks into the ground.

Dublin next has a plan update due Oct. 18, 2028, to the IDEM.