RAPID CITY, South Dakota Tap Water Quality

What this violation means

Total coliform bacteria are themselves usually harmless, but their presence signals that the water distribution system has a vulnerability — typically a cracked pipe, loss of pressure, or back-siphonage — that could allow disease-causing pathogens to enter. Repeated coliform-positive samples trigger mandatory utility investigation.

Recommended precautions

• →If your utility issues a boil-water advisory, boil all drinking and cooking water for at least one minute.
• →Use bottled water until the advisory is lifted.
• →Ice from icemakers and beverages made before the advisory should be discarded.
• →UV light and chlorination both kill coliform bacteria — most home filters do not.

What this violation means

Radium-226 and Radium-228 occur naturally in groundwater, particularly in regions with granite or sandstone aquifers. Long-term ingestion increases the risk of bone, sinus, and other cancers because radium concentrates in bone tissue.

Recommended precautions

• →Reverse osmosis and ion exchange (water softeners) remove radium.
• →Boiling does NOT remove radium and may concentrate it.
• →Private well users in radium-rich geology should test every 3–5 years.

What this violation means

Total coliform bacteria are themselves usually harmless, but their presence signals that the water distribution system has a vulnerability — typically a cracked pipe, loss of pressure, or back-siphonage — that could allow disease-causing pathogens to enter. Repeated coliform-positive samples trigger mandatory utility investigation.

Recommended precautions

• →If your utility issues a boil-water advisory, boil all drinking and cooking water for at least one minute.
• →Use bottled water until the advisory is lifted.
• →Ice from icemakers and beverages made before the advisory should be discarded.
• →UV light and chlorination both kill coliform bacteria — most home filters do not.