A partnership between the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island Department of Health will study manganese levels in Rhode Island’s drinking water. A partnership between the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island Department of Health will study manganese levels in Rhode Island’s drinking water. Rhode Island depends on groundwater sources that have contact with the subsurface. Groundwater supplies roughly 26 percent of the state’s population with drinking water with an estimated two-thirds of that from public water supply and another third from private wells. In this project, RIDOH has partnered with URI to provide technical assistance to people who are impacted by manganese.”