BELOIT, Wis. (WTVO) — Beloit’s Water Department has been inundated with questions about drinking water safety after announcing that the cancer-causing element radium had been detected in a water well.

Water Resource Director Bill Frisbee reassured residents in a video Wednesday that the problem is being addressed and being taken care of.

The well has since been closed, and the City is working on solutions to find a new water source.

Radium can have serious health effects after long term exposure, but Frisbee says the amount of time Beloit residents have been exposed shouldn’t be a cause for concern.

“It would require a lifetime of consumption at around a half gallon per day to have any increased risk of health impacts,” he said.

The City hopes to have the problem completely resolved by 2021.

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