As usual it tickles us pink when we hear that a Health Department has taken a pro-active step and offered reduced water testing rates to local residents. Why? Because sometimes the only way we, as budget conscious citizens in a Capitalist society will get up and DO anything… is when we see the words ‘free’, ‘discounted’ and/or ‘sale’.

In this case the community leaders in a part of Illinois decided to make certified well water testing available to residents right as the snows (hopefully) will begin to start melting.

The Lake County Health Department/Community Health Center will offer reduced water testing rates in observance of National Ground Water Awareness Week in March. Water samples can be brought to the Lake County Central Permit Facility and Environmental Laboratory, 500 W. Winchester Road in Libertyville between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on weekdays from March 7 through 17. During this time, the normal $16 analysis fee for testing for bacteria and nitrates will be reduced to $10 for well owners.

“Safe drinking water is something that many take for granted, but every year instances of contaminated drinking water occur in Lake County,” said Irene Pierce, the Health Department’s Executive Director. “The Health Department encourages all users of private wells to take this time to have their drinking water tested, and to test it at least annually to see if it meets the minimum drinking water standards.” ( source )

Excellent timing! Most people don’t give a second thought to the effects runoff water can have on local drinking water supplies.

• Runoff water from heavy rains or melting snow causes aquifer levels to rise. When that happens, the aquifer has the opportunity to come in contact with previously undisturbed pockets of underground contaminants.

• Localized flooding may jeopardize the quality of well water if the well head becomes submerged and flood water seeps down into the well.

Other possible reasons for concern over well water quality exist as well, but for now we believe those two ought to make well owners curious enough to find out if the Health Department in their own community has made discounted, free, or reduced well testing available.

Testing our own well water?

We’ve said it once, we’ve said it a hundred times: It’s your water, your health… and ultimately your LIFE!

Plenty of do-it-yourself well water test kits exist and you can find a few examples of well water test kits here.

Think it can’t happen to you? Think your well water, the very same well water that your father’s mother’s great-great grandpappy used to use for his award winning moonshine can’t become contaminated with bacteria?

So did the folks in Montrose, British Columbia, a region whose tap water had previously won four silver medals in the Berkley Springs International Water Tasting competition, until recent test results showed their untreated municipal water had as much as 6 ppm coliform bacteria per 100 milliliters of water.

As you will soon read, the amount does not merit widespread panic, but it does give cause for consideration of installing a disinfecting system.

Montrose pulled its bid for gold in a water tasting competition, after two months of testing revealed village water to be contaminated.

On Monday, council officially rescinded a motion to participate in the Berkley Springs International Water Tasting competition, a contest that has in past awarded the village four silver medals for its drinking water.

But two weeks ago, Interior Health released test results that found coliform bacteria in the water supply, prompting council to reconsider its entry in the 2011 competition.

“We’re planning now to disinfect our wells and disinfect the distribution system and the reservoir storage,” said administrator Kevin Chartres.

At its highest, the tests found six parts coliform bacteria per 100-millilitre water sample, not a grievous amount but enough to issue a boil-water advisory. ( source )

So… if an award-winning water supply can fall victim to incidental contamination by bacteria, what makes you so certain your water cannot suffer the same fate?

From our perspective, we applaud Montrose Health Officials for doing their due diligence and performing routine testing on their water supply in spite of the awards it has won.

If more people took an active interest in testing the quality of their water we believe companies and organizations responsible for polluting fresh water drinking water supplies would come under a lot more fire from government agencies and either stop their illegal activities or find new, safer ways to dispose of and/or store their chemical byproducts.

Just our two cents, ya’ know?

In the past we talked about the benefits and advantages of using Doulton Ceramic Water Filters as a portable, chemical-free means of treating source water that may contain unwanted bacteria. Today we would like to draw your attention to an undersink ceramic filter system manufactured by Crystal Quest.

Ceramic filters and well water?

What makes a ceramic filtration system good for well water applications? Quite simply, the fine level of filtration offered by ceramic filters does an excellent job of filtering out unwanted (and potentially harmful) harmful bacteria such as E.Coli, fecal coliform, Salmonella and Streptococcus. They also do a great job of filtering out cysts such as cryptosporidium and giardia.

Many well owners do not use a disinfection system on their well water and the Crystal Quest Undersink Ceramic Water Filter System has the ability to protect users of well water from unexpected bacterial contamination.

Additionally, and not necessarily a major selling point for most people, ceramic filter systems such as the Crystal Quest Undersink Ceramic Water Filter System also filters sediment down to the 0.5 micron size.

Testing for bacteria in well water?

For rapid on-site bacteria in well water testing we suggest taking a look at a Presence/Absence Test Kit for Coliform Bacteria. User can get positive/negative test results in as few as 24 hours and have the option of confirming whether or not the sample contains E.Coli specifically.

Sniff test: If you smell chlorine, then your water most likely contains some amount of chlorine. To determine the exact amount, however, you will need to use other testing methods.

As a general rule, if your water has a chlorine smell to it, then you most likely have, at the very least, chloramines (combined chlorine) present. This does not, however, rule out the possibility that your water also may contain a free chlorine residual, too.

For the record, health officials and scientists agree that chlorine gas does NOT do the body any favors and in too great a quantity can cause lung and eye irritation… so we suggest not performing the ‘sniff test’ if you can help it.

Taste test: Not all water that contains chlorine will smell like a swimming pool. While combined chlorine (chloramines) has a strong odor associated with it, free chlorine does not. Therefore water that may not stink like chlorine may still possess a strong chlorine taste.

We do NOT advocate the taste test method for any reason. We mentioned it just so that we could talk about why water can lack a strong chlorine smell and yet still have a strong chlorine taste.

Chemical test kit: We know of many different test kits that the general public can use to determine the free and/or total chlorine concentrations in their drinking water.

“Wait… Did you just talk about two different types of chlorine?”

Yes, because as we discussed during a few moments ago, one can have free chlorine and/or combined chlorine in their water. Typically free chlorine acts as the main sanitizing and/or disinfecting agent in a chlorinated water supply and once the free chlorine finds an organic contaminant to ‘kill’, it becomes entangled with the contaminant and forms a combined chlorine molecule.

Therefore, it stands to reason that a chlorinated water supply may contain both free and combined chlorine at the same time if the free chlorine molecules have successfully neutralized all biological contaminants and the effort did not require the use/exhaustion of all free chlorine molecules present in the water supply.

Getting back to chemical test kits, please…

Now that we have established the existence of different types of chlorine which may or may not exist in a water supply, we will now discuss different ways of testing for chlorine in a water supply.

• Test Strips — Perfect for field testing because they require the user only to dip the strip into the water and compare the color of the test pad/area to a color chart that came with the package of test strips. Products exist for the detection of both free and total chlorine. People can even get a single test strip to test for both at the same using a product called WaterWorks 2

• ‘Wet’ Chemical Test Kits — Considered by most as the traditional, tried and true method for testing the quality of water. Most ‘wet’ kits typically require dissolving DPD as a tablet, powder or liquid into water samples and either comparing the colors of resultant solutions to color charts or adding drops of an additional chemical until a second color change reaction occurs.

  Simpler ‘wet chemistry’ test kits for chlorine (i.e. 2-way pool water test kits) use a different chemical called OTO (Orthotolidine) and detect total chlorine (free chlorine + combined chlorine = total chlorine).

  Problem w/ using OTO: No way exists to use OTO in a way that will allow a person to determine the free chlorine concentration.

  The DPD reagent system does, however, allow for differentiation between the two if a water sample has DPD-1 added first, gets analyzed, and then has DPD-3 added… and then get analyzed again.

• Water Testing Meters — Most water testing meters for chlorine (i.e. the eXact Chlorine Photometer) require the use of DPD, a chemical indicator which turns a shade of pink/red in the presence of chlorine molecules. DPD-1 indicates the presence of free chlorine and a combination of DPD-1 plus DPD-3 indicates the presence of free and/or combined chlorine (total chlorine).

So… Which method of chlorine testing will work best for you? Ask yourself the following questions:

1) Do you need to test for free chlorine, total chlorine or both?

2) How much accuracy and precision will you need in your results?

3) If performing testing for reporting purposes, what do the rules and regulations governing your profession say you must use as a testing methods?

Once you have answered those three questions you will have a clear idea of whether you should use chlorine test strips, wet chemistry test kits for chlorine testing or chlorine testing meters to determine chlorine concentrations in your water.

Back in the old days, pool water professionals had no way to determine the cause of a stain on pool liners, plumbing fixtures, steps, or stairs. They just tried every trick they could think of to remove them until they came off… IF they ever came off.

These days, however, companies like Jack’s Magic specialize in making products that allow even the most inexperienced pool operator to quickly identify stains and remove stains.

Pool owners/operators who’ve tried Jack’s Magic Stain Identification Kit say it has saved them countless hours of wasted labor (scrubbing!) by taking the guesswork out of the satin id’ing and removal process.

How does it work? Quite simply, one of four (4) simple topical tests will pinpoint the nature of the stain and the included guide then tells users which Jack’s Magic Stain Removal product will work best to remove your swimming pool stain.

Where do pool water stains come from?

Typically stains result from unwanted water contaminants such as metals (i.e. iron, copper and manganese) which find their way into pool water via the fill water used to top off or initially fill up a swimming pool. Therefore we always suggest testing fill water before adding any chemicals. This simple step can save you tons of aggravation.

Why? Because if you discover ahead of time that your pool water contains metals, you have the opportunity to add the correct sequestering compounds and metal chelating compounds before adding the sanitizers that would bind with metals, form precipitates, fall out of solution, and create stains.

Need a test kit for your pool water? Take a look at Taylor-Test-Kits.Com or the eXact Micro 7+ Pool Testing Meter.

Just when we thought we had seen and heard the full run of attacks on the addition of fluoride to public water systems, we came across the results of a study that claims children exposed to fluoride wind up less intelligent than children not exposed to fluoride.

Yes, you read that correctly. Fluoride causes stupidity… at least according to the results of the study discussed recently in a publication called ‘Environmental Health Perspectives’.

Fluoride is added to 70% of the U.S. water supply. Kids who drink this water suffer from decreased cognitive function, according to research published in Environmental Health Perspectives, a publication of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The study followed 512 children between the ages 8 and 13, with varying degrees of fluoride exposure. One group lived in a Chinese village with high fluoride levels, and the other in a Chinese village with low fluoride levels. The scientists conducting the study even eliminated other variables that may have affected brain health, such as iodine deficiency and lead exposure. With these variables eliminated, researchers found that the number of intelligent children in the village with low fluoride levels was 350 percent higher than those in the high fluoride village. Even more disturbing, 15% of the highly fluoridated children scored low enough to indicate mental retardation, verses 6% in the other village.

According to Paul Connett, Ph.D., director of the Fluoride Action Network, “This is the 24th study that has found this association, but this study is stronger than the rest because the authors have controlled for key confounding variables and in addition to correlating lowered IQ with levels of fluoride in the water, the authors found a correlation between lowered IQ and fluoride levels in children’s blood. This brings us closer to a cause and effect relationship between fluoride exposure and brain damage in children.” ( source )

How can you determine if your tap water contains fluoride? Call your local water company and ask them for the current or previous year’s Water Quality Report. By law, they must either provide you with a copy of that document or give you the online location where you can download it.

Testing for fluoride in drinking water?

Unfortunately no dip-n-read test kits or basic ‘wet chemistry’ test kits exist for fluoride. We know of only one test kit available to the general public at this time that has the ability to test for fluoride in drinking water and does not require users to have a degree in chemistry to preform the testing.

The eXact Micro 7+ Meter can test for fluoride levels between 0.1 and 1.1 mg/L (ppm) using time tested SPADNS chemistry. Do you need to know what that last bit means to use the kit? Nope. Yo will need to pick up the required fluoride reagentstrips separately for an additional $13, though, because they do not come with the basic meter kit.

• Lower Levels of Fluoride in Drinking Water on the Way
• Fluoride From Tea and Toothpaste Weakens Bones?
• Inexpensive Countertop Fluoride Filter

Yesterday we posted a blog entry about pool water testing and within a few hours we had a slew of inquiries about other pool related topics. We promise to get to them all in due time… and right now we will answer ‘MillieMouse’ who asked:

“My husband never throws anything out until its totally empty and he has used the same reagents in our Taylor brand pool test kit for a few years. Is that safe?”

Thanks for writing in, Millie, and to answer your question directly, NO. You should replace Taylor and any brand of test kit’s reagents on a yearly basis or whenever they get exposed to extreme temperatures, sunlight or other things which could cause premature chemical degradation — such as getting stored in close proximity to containers filled w/ chlorine or bromine.

Since you specifically mentioned that your husband uses a Taylor Test Kit, we figured we’d point you in the right direction… if you can get him to part w/ his old reagents. See below for a list of commonly needed Taylor test kit reagents:

We hope this helps and if, by chance, your husband has accidentally misplaced his beloved (antique?) Taylor test kit and wants to get a new one, Taylor-Test-Kits.Com can help with that problem.

Although MOST of us still have snow on the ground and/or ridiculously cold temperatures outside our windows, some other folks have started to experience weather warm enough to make them start thinking about… testing their pool water.

‘TommyT’ wrote in and asked, “Due to a bad cover and probably a hole in my liner we will need to add a lot of fill water this Spring. We have a well and know we will need to shock real well come Spring, but will we need to test for things like iron or is that all a bunch of hype about iron and metals ruining pools?”

Definitely NOT a bunch of hype, Tommy. We highly suggest that anyone needing to add water to their pool from a well, or ANY source for that matter, perform a number of tests on the water BEFORE adding chlorine, bromine, etc. If present in the water, minerals like iron and copper will immediately get oxidized by sanitizers ‘drop out of solution’. When that happens, they land on pool fittings, liners, steps/stairs, etc. and could leave permanent stains!

Yeah, sure, we would still suggest adding products like Sea Klear Metal Klear or Jack’s Magic Pink Stuff even after testing, but the testing will let you know if you need a lot of those products or just a normal maintenance dose.

Trust us when we say that the time and money spent testing the water before shocking does not compare to the amount of time and money wasted when people have to clean up stains caused by metals in their pool water!

We recently read that the United States Environmental Protection Agency plans to enact new guidelines aimed at monitoring perchlorate levels in drinking water and requiring corrective actions if higher than acceptable levels get detected.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in early February it will be implementing a standard that regulates the amount of perchlorate that can be in drinking water. Perchlorate (a salt derived from perchloric acid) is a man-made and naturally occurring substance that is found in rocket fuel, fireworks, and other combustible products and has been linked to thyroid problems in young children and pregnant women.

Between 2001 and 2005, the EPA monitored drinking water sources in sources all over the United States and found that 153 sources in 26 different states contained perchlorate. In most positive sources, the drinking water was contaminated by improperly disposed rocket fuel and other chemicals at plants, testing sites, and even military bases. ( source )

What prompted the EPA to take closer look at perchlorate in drinking water? According to the EPA’s own web site,

“Scientific research indicates that perchlorate may disrupt the thyroid’s ability to produce hormones that are critical to developing fetuses and infants. Monitoring data show more than 4 percent of public water systems have detected perchlorate and between 5 million and 17 million people may be served drinking water containing perchlorate. The science that has led to this decision has been peer reviewed by independent scientists and public health experts including the National Academy of Sciences. Perchlorate is both a naturally-occurring and man-made chemical that is used in the manufacture of rocket fuel, fireworks, flares and explosives, and may be present in bleach and in some fertilizers. This decision reverses a 2008 preliminary determination by the previous administration, and considers input from almost 39,000 public comments.”

So… How can a person learn if their tap, city and/or municipal water supply contains unacceptable levels of perchlorates? Each year your local water department must make available Consumer Confidence Report that tells consumers what contaminants showed up during routine testing throughout the year and from source(s) it extracted its water.

Removing/Reducing perchlorate levels in drinking water?

As usual, when dealing with a particularly unpleasant drinking water contaminant, water professionals suggest the use of a quality reverse osmosis drinking water system for the job.

Watts 315 Reverse Osmosis System Meets NSF/ANSI Standard 58

Watts 415 Reverse Osmosis System Meets NSF/ANSI Standard 58

Watts 525 Reverse Osmosis System Meets NSF/ANSI Standard 58

The public’s growing curiosity about reports of flammable drinking water, unexplainable spikes in VOC levels in drinking water, and science’s inability to definitively state whether hydraulic fracturing endangers the quality of ground water has resulted in the United States Environmental Agency announcing a plan to investigate the possible perils of fracking.

You can read/download the EPA’s plan of attack for investigating fracking on the EPA web site.

Does the EPA’s taking a look at the practice of fracking mean problems for the companies currently involved in that business? No, but it does mean someone may finally examine the procedures, equipment and techniques used to pump many millions of gallons of toxic chemicals and salt water through the heart of freshwater aquifers in an effort to extract natural gas.

Proponents claim hydraulic fracturing poses no risks an opponents claim it puts irreplaceable freshwater reserves in grave danger. Hopefully the EPA will shed some light on the topic for everyone.