Posted Tuesday, June 17, 2008 -- 5:30 pm
By Zac Schultz

Baraboo: Floodwaters are receding in Sauk County, but they've left a mess and some questions over the safety of the drinking water.

Mike Frank is concerned about the well at Frankie's Bar. He wants to open his bar up again, but he needs to get his well tested.

The floodwaters brought sand up at to just under the top of the well, and it's unclear if contaminated water went high enough to get inside the well.

Frank has seen high water before. "This time the water was a little bit higher so it's got me a little bit scared of what could have happened."

Nick Oasen is an Environmental Health Specialist with the Sauk County Health Department. He's been testing a lot of wells since the floods. "I couldn't put a number to it." He took a sample from Frankie's Tuesday.

Frank says the Sheriff's Department won't let him open without a test. "They wanted to make sure it was safe for the public to be here. I chose to close and wait for results."

The sample is going to CT Laboratories in Baraboo. In 24 hours they'll know if bacteria is present.

"If you have a sample that has bateria in it, it's going to turn a bright blue." Kristen Beyersdorff and her fellow analysts have been busy since the flooding. "We've had a few additional walk-ins, a lot of local residents that are concerned about the safety of their water."

She says one positive came from Sauk County. "In this case there was also ecoli detected."

Mike Frank will know his results by Wednesday. "The sooner I get results the sooner I can get back up and running, which I need to do."