originally posted on September 8, 2016

KEWAUNEE, Wis. (AP) — A group of farmers has formed to buy and deliver clean, bottled water to families with contaminated drinking wells.

The Green Bay Press-Gazette (http://gbpg.net/2cJ18be ) reports that the nonprofit Peninsula Pride Farms will pay for well inspections and most of the cost of in-home water treatment systems for those whose well water tests positive for E. coli.

The farmers are addressing a groundwater pollution problem in Kewaunee County some environmentalists say is caused by large-scale agriculture.

A study released in December found 34 percent of wells tested in the county had unsafe levels of nitrates and bacteria. About 2 percent of tested wells were contaminated with E. coli.

A work group set up by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommended in June that farmers and other stakeholders provide emergency water supplies.