Some folks believe that water coming from the ground naturally ranks as the cleanest, purest water possible — because they don’t KNOW any better. Depending upon where a person lives, sometimes the water coming out of the ground contains dangerously high levels of contaminants that could seriously affect a person’s health if not removed from the water prior to consumption.

Where do the contaminants come from? Some occur naturally in Nature and others, such as nitrates, occur in Nature, yes, but can also come from man-made chemical products such as fertilizer.

Park Rapids, Minn. — The water supply in the city of Park Rapids is contaminated with nitrates, and many suspect the source is the fertilizer used on local farm fields.

Park Rapids has had elevated nitrate levels in its water for years. But last April was the first time a city well exceeded 10 parts per million, the threshold for what’s considered safe. The well was shut down.

City administrator Bill Smith says residents aren’t panicking, they are concerned. Nitrate contamination can cause health problems. It’s especially dangerous for infants, who can get something called blue baby syndrome — when nitrates inhibit a baby’s ability to use oxygen.

Smith says some blame local farmers who put tons of nitrogen-based fertilizer on their fields. That includes the R.D. Offutt Company, or RDO — the largest potato grower in the U.S., and the community’s largest employer. ( source )

As in most other situations involving drinking water quality testing, nothing takes the place of water test performed by a certified drinking water testing laboratory. That does NOT mean, however, a person cannot perform spot checks on their own water for potentially harmful contaminants such as nitrates between certified water tests using at-home drinking water test kits.

At-Home Drinking Water Test Kits Capable of Testing for Nitrates:

• WaterSafe All-in-One Test Kit
• Well Drillers Standard Test Kit
• Well Drillers Master Test Kit
• Drinking Water Quality Test Kit
• eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter

With temperatures soaring to record and near record highs all across the United States, it comes as no surprise to us that we have received numerous questions pertaining to the proper treatment of green swimming pool water, smelly swimming pool water… and some water that would make the average sewer worker vomit.

Therefore we have located yet another online source for Pool Water Testing and Pool Chemical Supplies. Below you will find quick links to various pool testing supplies, pool chemicals, pool shock treatments and other items such as automatic chemical feeders for swimming pools.

Just as with your drinking water, though, nothing beats a professional water test if you have reason to suspect that harmful bacteria or harmful levels of contaminants have entered your pool water.

A recent article we found gives disturbing details about how the bottled water industry has had the option of doing business all these years. It scares us to think that bottled water companies have charged as much as they have for their product all these years and not really done all they could to protect us from fecal, apparently also spelled faecal, coliform.

FDA pushes for more stringent water testing

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is pushing more stringent testing standards for the bottled water industry in the US, saying companies will have to eliminate any causes of faecal contamination in water sources before they can bottle the water for sale.

The FDA’s new rules also require manufacturers to test source water for any forms of coliform (a group of bacteria that are mostly harmless), according to a copy of the rules scheduled to be posted in the Federal Register on Friday.

If coliform is found, manufacturers must also test for faecal contamination. Water that goes into bottles is already tested for coliform and faecal contamination, but the water source itself wasn’t previously required to be tested.

The new rules were proposed two years ago, and bring the FDA’s standards in line with that of the Environmental Protection Agency, which has federal oversight of tap water. The rules will go into effect on 1 December 2009.

The FDA notes that 70-75% of bottled water comes from the ground, or the same places where people receive tap water. The new rule also says bottled water producers must keep records of source water testing. ( source )

Sorry, but the fact that the bottled water industry has raked in BILLIONS and BILLIONS of dollars each year for so long and no one thought to make sure they observed what most would call ‘common sense’ water testing practices sounds like a criminal act to us.

At least someone has finally decided to ask questions and impose some rules that will help guarantee the public’s safety.

A kit like…

… will tell you if the water contains unsafe levels of bacteria that would make swimming or bathing unsafe.

A kit like…

WaterWorks^TM Bacteria Check

… detects down to 1 coliform unit of bacteria, the EPA limit for safe drinking water.

Now as we ALWAYS say, “No at-home test kit gives the same level of precision and accuracy as a professional, certified water analysis laboratory!” — It’s your water, your health and ultimately your LIFE!

To celebrate the arrival of decent swimming weather for many folks this Summer, we formally invite you to check out a new website dedicated to Pool Water Test Kits. Warmer weather means more people in the pool and a greater need for accurate pool water testing!

As new pool water test kits and information regarding pool water test kits becomes available, Pool-Water-Test-Kits.Com will pass the information along to the public. Expect to find cut-and-dry answers to relevant pool water testing questions and links to credible, reliable web sites where you can pick up Traditional ‘wet’ test kits, Pool Water Test Kit Reagents, Pool Water Testing Meters, and Pool Water Test Strips.

pool test kits + pool test strips + pool test kit reagents + pool test meters

* Safety: Improperly balanced pool & spa water serves as a breeding ground for harmful bacteria that can cause serious illness, especially in children and people with suppressed immune systems.

• Dirty pool water can make you very sick
• 1 in 5 Americans admits to peeing in swimming pools

* Saves Money: Improperly balanced pool & spa water corrodes metal fixtures, fades and weakens liners, destroys concrete/gunite, and worse yet it can bleach (ruin) your favorite swimsuit. Additionally, having to correct a water problem will require more chemicals than keeping the water balanced in the first place.

* Aesthetic Reasons: Improperly balanced pool & spa water can look bad and smell bad. No one wants to swim in nasty looking green or black pool water that smells like a swamp. Unsightly stains on pool surfaces caused by metals or algae don’t really make someone want to go for a swim, either.

Think we made that up? Not a chance! Read the full article here or catch a few highlights, or LOW lights, in this Water Testing Blog update.

The Illinois attorney general filed suit June 9 against the village of Crestwood, several officials and the village’s former certified water supply operator for allegedly using a contaminated well and knowingly providing false information about the water supply to residents and state regulators.

The nine-count complaint, filed in the Cook County Circuit Court, charges that Crestwood officials became aware in late 1985 that one of the village’s wells was contaminated with volatile organic chemicals, including vinyl chloride and dichloroethylene.

Despite this knowledge, village officials continued adding the contaminated water to the public water supply until 2007, the lawsuit says.

During this time, Crestwood officials assured residents and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency that the village’s only supply of water was Lake Michigan and water purchased from another nearby Chicago suburb, the complaint says. ( source )

We feel this article should give people MORE than enough reason to keep a watchful eye on the quality of their drinking water. It saddens all of us at Water Testing Blog to think that government officials would commit such crimes against the very people that elected them, but power and greed can can make people do a lot of very bad things.

You can easily keep tabs on your local water authority by calling them up and asking for a copy of the most recent water quality report. To verify the accuracy of the report’s contents in a simple manner you can use a kit like such as the WaterSafe Drinking Water Test Kit or the Water Quality Test Kit from Industrial Test Systems.

Please note, though, that if you suspect a serious or potentially life-threatening problem with your water at ANY time you should have a thorough water analysis performed by a certified water testing laboratory.

With all the posts we’ve written about the importance of testing chlorine levels in drinking water, we seem to have forgotten that a lot of people have test kits already and simply need replacement dpd tablets. The links below will take you to a site where you can pick up replacement dpd tablets and DPD powder for the Taylor brand of water test kits for pools and spas.

Experts agree that private well owners are 100% responsible for the quality of the water coming out of their wells.

Residents with private wells should definitely test their water to monitor its quality. Private well owners are solely responsible for the safety of their wells and any recommended testing. A laboratory analysis of your water supply will provide you with the information needed to take immediate and long-term corrective measures, if necessary, to provide a suitable and safe water supply. ( source )

So… What about when Mother Nature’s fury finds it way to your doorstep? What then?

No one in their right mind would argue in favor of having a terrible storm which rips trees out by the roots and dumps several inches of water on an area in a very short period of time — but storms like those happen all the time and when they do, people in the affected areas often go without potable (fit for human consumption) drinking water for a long while.

Anytime an area gets flooded, the wastewater in the sewers and sewage from leach fields has an opportunity to become part of the surface water. That means all surface water poses a risk to human health if not properly treated before use.

Ah, but well water comes from aquifers sometimes hundreds of feet below ground so it should pose no danger to humans, right? Wrong. If the well’s structure has even the slightest crack in it, and this includes all the seals at the top of the well AND the well casing running all the way down to the underground water source. The smallest opening serves as the perfect introduction point for harmful bacteria and/or other pollutants.

So remember, it’s your well and your responsibility to make certain it produces safe, potable water during times of calm weather and definitely following periods of bad weather, intense storms and flooding.

You should always opt for certified laboratory analysis after bad weather but in times of dire need, or between regularly scheduled (annual testing is suggested) well water tests, you may want to consider using an at-home test test kit for drinking water.

Let’s face it: If flood waters prevent you from getting to safety and/or rescuers carrying fresh water from getting to you, an at-home drinking water test kit may make the difference between dehydration, disease, death… and survival.

Bacteria Check for Drinking Water

Water Quality Test Kit for Drinking Water

While making the rounds through the Internet, searching for water quality testing and filtration news, we came across another interesting article providing reasons why people ought to consider testing their drinking water routinely and installing drinking water filters in their home and/or office.

Sometimes I worry as a Naturopathic Physician that I am over-paranoid about toxins in our environment, so the Biochemist in me grabbed this test kit over at eVitamins to see if maybe I didn’t need to be so paranoid after all.

Now I know why most patients I’ve tested for heavy metals in Seattle consistently show high lead and mercury levels. We are drinking poison! I wish mercury was included in this test kit, but most high quality filters also filter mercury out of our water as well as other toxic substances such as pesticides, bacteria, chlorine and so forth.

I like the simple Aquasauna filters that can be added to your kitchen sink. Don’t forget the shower filter too, or you can filter the water straight at it’s source with a whole home water filter (somewhat expensive but highly recommended for those with chronic disease or small children constantly bathing in it.) ( source )

The author of that text wished they could find a test kit for mercury. Conveniently, we have located a relatively inexpensive and very easy to use mercury test kit for drinking water. You can find information about the mercury test kit and also about mercury in drinking water on this page.

Most pool water professionals will agree that pool owners and pool maintenance staff should check the sanitizer levels (chlorine, bromine, etc.), pH, calcium hardness and total alkalinity on a regular basis.

To check those basic parameters a pool owner can use pool test strips, wet chemistry pool test kits and/or pool testing meters. Each method has its own distinct advantages and disadvantages:

While the four parameters mentioned above (sanitizer levels, pH, total alkalinity and calcium hardness) should get checked on a regular basis, pool owners should also keep a watchful eye on other pool water parameters such as cyanuric acid levels, mineral content (i.e. iron, copper, etc.), TDS (total dissolved solids), and acid/base demand.

Once again arsenic has made the news and this time scientists have discovered a possible link between low levels of arsenic exposure and a decrease in the human body’s ability to fight the influenza virus. ( source )

What is Arsenic and Where Does It Come From?

Free arsenic which can adversely affect human health comes from a reaction between certain types of igneous (volcanic) rock and oxygen when a water table (aquifer) drops. This reaction liberates ‘free’ arsenic and once the water table rises again, that ‘free’ arsenic gets carried away by the ground water.

What About Surface Water? Can Arsenic Get Into Surface Water?

Many bodies of surface water get fed by run off from streams and tributaries which get their water originally from underground sources. Additionally we must not forget that “fly ash containing arsenic can be a potential source of contamination to both surface water and ground water.” ( source )

How Can Private Individuals Test Their Water for Arsenic?

Yes they can, but please keep in mind that no at-home drinking water test kit for arsenic will suffice if you need a definitive answer as to whether or not your drinking water conatins arsenic. Only water analysis performed by a certified laboratory will provide you with those sorts of answers when dealing with water quality issues which can directly affect your health.

Why bother using an at-home test kits for arsenic in drinking water? Simple: Performing a simple screening for contaminants on your own between certified water tests greatly decreases your risk of exposure to harmful contaminats like arsenic.

Nationally recognized organizations such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the Well Owners Organization suggest testing for drinking water contamination on a regular basis, and not just when an event such as flood takes place.

Arsenic Quick Home Water Quality Test Kit

The kit above has a detection range of 0.0, 0.005, 0.01, 0.02, 0.06, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, <0.5, <0.5 ppm (mg/L) and you may also use this kit for determining the arsenic concentration of soil. With a total test time of just 12 minutes, this inexpensive (< $20 USD) home water test kit makes testing well water, groundwater, surface water and all forms of drinking water a breeze!