People living in the city of Camden, OH spoke up when their city drinking water, which came from a village-owned well, developed an unpleasant salty taste. As a result, the Ohio EPA got involved and in July they informed village officials that they would have to remedy the taste problem via filtration or find a new well.

We commend the Ohio EPA for speaking up on behalf of the residents and taking action to make sure their drinking water no longer contained bad tasting chlorides.

CAMDEN, Ohio (WDTN) – Ohio EPA has issued a preliminary site approval for Camden to investigate as a possible alternate well field. The approval is the first step in the process of replacing the village’s present sodium-contaminated well field.

The village has been supplying fresh drinking water to residents who do not like the taste of Camden’s water since salt entered the drinking water system in late July. Ohio EPA officials notified village officials that Camden must find a permanent solution.

The proposed well field is north of the salt pile that is presumed to be the source of the current contamination. Indications are that the area will not be affected by the salt; however, test wells must produce adequate water quantity and be free of bacteria or other contaminants. ( source )

Can the average person test for chlorides in their own drinking water?

Of course they can! WaterWorks manufactures an easy-to-use dip and read test strip that detects chloride levels in drinking water as low as 0 ppm and as high as 500 ppm with distinct color blocks at 0, 50, 100, 250, 500 ppm (mg/L).

Most people do not have to worry about chlorides in their drinking water, but if you do, a test kit like WaterWorks Chloride Check will make testing a simple, quick task.

OK, so the the village has to find a new source of drinking water and pretty much anyone can test for chloride in their drinking water in a matter of seconds… but well water can contain quite a few other contaminants, so what about those? Can the average person test for those, as well?

WaterSafe test kits and SenSafe test kits make drinking water testing easy and affordable for everyone. Average homeowners can make excellent use of drinking water test kits such as the WaterSafe Well Water Test Kit and/or the SenSafe Water Quality Test Kit while water quality service professionals can make excellent use of drinking water test kits such as eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter and/or the Well Driller Master Test Kit

Keep in mind, though, that do-it-yourself test kits for testing water quality work well as screening tools but should not get used as the ‘final ‘word’ regarding the potability of a water supply. In situations where you have reason to suspect contamination of your drinking water source, always defer to the expertise of a certified drinking water laboratory such as National Testing Labs.

Looking for a way to lower the amount of free chlorine and chloramines in the water you use in the garden… but don’t want the hassle of installing a complicated water filter?

If so, then we suggest you consider the Green Knight Hydroponic Dechlorinating Filter.

Functioning as an easily installed inline filter, the Green Knight screws right onto the average 3/4″ garden hose and promotes healthy plant growth by effectively reducing and/or removing potentially harmful chlorine from the water and also contains quartz crystals which aid plants’ absorption of vital nutrients.

Rainshow’r Green Knight uses a polyester pre-filter to catch sediment and then allows water to pass through 2 pounds of specially blended KDF55, 2 ounces of quartz crystal, and a final polishing stage which contains KDF73 filament media.

This product also comes with a sturdy 3-foot vinyl hose so that people can reap the benefits of the chlorine filter near the spigot/faucet w/o having to wrestle with a full-length garden hose. This works out well for rinsing off metal tools, washing mud off of dogs, etc.

Oh, and we learned something new while researching this product: People have found that reducing chlorine levels in rinse and wash water can greatly extend the life and luster of organic carnuba wax jobs on cars, boats, RV’s, etc.

Specific product details of the Rainshow’r Green Knight:

• Testing has shown that the unit removes 85% – 90% of Free Available Chlorine (FAC)
• Testing has shown that the unit also reduces chloramine concentrations by 65% – 75%
• Life expectancy: 30,000 gallons of source water assuming ‘average’ chlorine concentrations
• Suggested flow rate: Approximately 2 ppm
• Temperature rating: From 40F up to 110F
• Maximum pressure rating: 100 psi
• Freezing will cause irreparable damage to the unit, as will not running water through the unit at least twice a month after its first use.

Will the Rainshow’r Green Knight work as a drinking water filter?

Rainshow’r, the manufacturer of Green Knight Hydroponic Dechlorinating Filter designed this product for use in the garden and for outdoor applications, not for use a device to make water potable.

It lacks sufficient filter media capable of removing particulate matter and other contaminants such as organic chemicals, heavy metals (lead, iron, copper, mercury, etc.) and bacteria from source water.

Over the past few years we have written a few blog postings about the potential effects on water quality that gas drilling may have. Today, a woman named ‘Sylvia’ who lives in an area where a lot of drilling has started asks,

Looking to by a TDS monitor for personal use.

We have a lot of gas drilling starting where I live, I’m having my well and water checked by a professional well service. But there are a few of us that would like to have a tds monitor for after the fact to keep a check on our water instead of constantly having to pay a professional to find out if there has been any change. I would like to know if you have a tds monitor that would pick up pH, barium, chloride, and methane. iron manganese, hardness (calcium and magnesium), sodium, total organic carbon, strontium, oil&grease, detergents, lead, arsenic, alkalinity, coliform bacteria, sulfate and nitrate. Volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) or a subgroup of VOC’s called BTEX (benzene etc.) along with radionuclides like gross alpha, radium and radon.

The first thing we need to point out: TDS Meters cannot detect all of those things. This does not mean, however, that they do not have their use in monitoring water quality in regions where gas drilling, or other industrial activities, take place.

Wikipedia describes TDS in the following manner: “Primary sources for TDS in receiving waters are agricultural and residential runoff, leaching of soil contamination and point source water pollution discharge from industrial or sewage treatment plants. The most common chemical constituents are calcium, phosphates, nitrates, sodium, potassium and chloride, which are found in nutrient runoff, general stormwater runoff and runoff from snowy climates where road de-icing salts are applied. The chemicals may be cations, anions, molecules or agglomerations on the order of one thousand or fewer molecules, so long as a soluble micro-granule is formed. More exotic and harmful elements of TDS are pesticides arising from surface runoff.” ( source )

Given the possibilities of what TDS meters COULD possibly detect, one could safely say that regardless of whether or not a person lives near gas drilling or not, a sudden change in TDS readings might warrant further investigation.

Sudden and/or drastic changes in the pH levels of source water may also serve as good reason to perform additional testing so having a pH meter handy may also prove beneficial.

At-Home Testing vs. Laboratory Testing

In a situation like Sylvia’s where a myriad of both simple and complex drinking water contaminants could show up at any time, we feel confident saying that no at-home test kit will protect her and her neighbors fully and we hope that local health officials will step up to the challenge of keeping tabs on local water quality by implementing a full regimen of independent testing… instead of blindly trusting the results handed down from private industry.

Without knowing how much your local lab charges for a ‘full battery’ of testing, Sylvia, we will suggest contacting companies like National Testing Labs to see what they have to offer.

Inexpensive Spot Checking Options

As we previously stated, occasionally testing the TDS and pH levels of source water may provide clues as to whether or not it contains contaminants. You may also want to test for the following:

• Chlorides
• Nitrates/Nitrites
• Heavy Metals (Collectively)
• Heavy Metals (Independently — Lead, Copper, Arsenic, Iron, Chromium, etc.)

A company by the name of Industrial Test Systems, Inc. manufactures an excellent test kit known as the Well Driller Master Test Kit which offers a number of useful tests designed for use on well water at a reasonable price — usually around $200 — and the kits come with multiple tests for each parameter.

Certified to NSF/ANSI 61 standard, this water softener resin media works for both residential and commercial applications.

How Does the Softener Media Work?

This particular Water Softener Media operates using a widely used cation exchange mechanism like many other resins on the market.

Advantage of This Softener Media?

As a convenience, water softener owners may regenerate this media with either potassium chloride or sodium chloride salt, though use of potassium chloride for the task drastically reduces the amount of sodium content discharged in the softeners’ backwash streams. This matters a lot in states like California which have tried to outlaw water softeners because of their sodium discharges into the environment.

If using sodium chloride to perform media regeneration, backwash must get discharged into a sewer system.

One other perk of this type of media: It also removes up to 4 ppm of iron from the water it treats (if the water contains iron.

The other day we gave a brief tutorial on the origin of tannins in drinking water… which naturally resulted in our receiving at least half a dozen emails asking us about testing for tannins, and if detected, ways to remove them from drinking water.

We will address the matter of removing tannins from drinking water in a future blog posting.

As of yet we have not found an inexpensive way to test for tannins. Good Water Warehouse manufactures a test kit for tannins, but that kit better suits a person who tests water and sells remediation systems to the public if they find problems. Why? Because the kit has a relatively high cost.

Though the test kit does come with 100 tests, it costs a little over $200… a price tag which typically scares off most homeowners.

Another, and some would say more practical, way to test for tannins involves having a certified water testing laboratory such as National Testing Labs analyze water suspected of containing tannins. For the same cost as the Good Water Warehouse test kit a homeowner can have their water tested for tannins and 100+ other potential drinking water contaminants.

Despite efforts by public health officials to keep the general population safe, scofflaws make their jobs very difficult sometimes. For some reason members of the general public believe signs warning of dangerous water conditions (including water quality issues) always choose to believe those signs apply to OTHER people, but not them.

Note to the Public: A ‘Beach Closed’ sign and closed in fencing around the swimming area means… YOU CAN GET SICK IF YOU SWIM IN THE WATER! Also, if the staff on-hand suggest avoiding going in the water and/or wading into the water deeper than just a few inches, FOLLOW THEIR ADVICE!

LITTLETON, Colo. — The swimming beach at Chatfield State Park was temporarily closed Sunday when routine water testing found high levels of E. coli bacteria, authorities said.

But 7NEWS Reporter Jaclyn Allen found dozens of people playing on the beach and swimming in the water right next to the closed swimming area Sunday afternoon.

Several families said they had no idea why the beach was closed because it’s not posted on the signs, which simply said: “Swim Beach Closed Today.” The swim beach was also fenced off.

Visitors were surprised to learn from 7NEWS that the closure was triggered by bacterial contamination that could make them seriously ill.

“I had no idea about the E. coli,” said Monique Garcia, whose toddler son had been playing in the water all day. “The woman who took our money told us the beach was closed because the water quality was not good.”

Signs warning “Swimming Prohibited” were posted in the neighboring area where people were swimming and splashing in the water. Park rangers said people are only allowed to wade knee-deep in the water outside the designated swimming beach area.

But clearly people weren’t getting the message. ( source )

Signs and staff warned people to avoid the water, but they went around the fencing and played in the water anyways. So far no one has reported any illnesses resulting from those dolts ignoring warnings, but next time they may not have the same luck.

People have DIED from illnesses they contracted by swimming in water that health officials had recently declared unsafe for swimming.

Can the average person test water at parks, pools, etc.?

In a word, yes… and to do so will NOT break the bank. WaterSafe manufactures a bacteria test kit for pools/spas and rivers/streams/ponds/lakes that gives pass/fail results for bacteria in water at a level which would make the water safe or unsafe for swimming.

Samantha009 emailed us a very direct question:

What are tannins and what effect do they have on my drinking water?

Tannins occur in nature as organic matter and typically get created as water passes through peaty soil and/or decaying vegetation. They normally have a faint yellow to tea-like color, and can cause yellow staining on fabrics, fixtures,
china and laundry.

As far as detecting tannins (without a test kit), one can sometimes detect them in water as a tangy or tart aftertaste. Some people have also attributed a musty or earthy odor in their water to tannins.

Other names for tannins: fulvic acid or humic acid.

Because of the ways in which tannins get created, you will more likely find them surface water supplies and
shallow wells than in deep wells. Water in marshy, low-lying, or coastal areas also plays host to tannins quite frequently.

With regard to health effects of tannins in drinking water, they pose more of an aesthetic problem than a health risk. They may make water unappealing to the palate and can cause stains in laundry… but at this time most health experts agree that they present little or no health hazard.

We said it before and we will say it again: Ultimate responsibility for the quality of the water you drink rests with YOU.

Far too often we trust that the water entering our homes contains no harmful contaminants because our water treatment plant ‘has one of the best reputations in the business’ or has ‘never had a violation or failed an inspection’. We forget our local water treatment plant’s crystal clear, safe travels through many miles of different types and sorts of pipes before it reaches our faucets.

At any point in that journey a tiny crack in any one of the pipes could allow potentially harmful contaminants to enter the water stream… and travel to our faucets. A multitude of coliform bacteria can work their way through openings far smaller than half of a millimeter in size with the greatest of ease.

Oh, and at one point in time or another, health officials deemed materials like lead safe for use in drinking water pipelines.

Most people take for granted every day that the water from kitchen taps and the vegetables from home gardens or stores will be clean and safe.

But if sewer pipes lying beneath local streets and yards are damaged or broken, there’s potential for serious problems, say health, environmental and utility officials.

Because pipes carrying fresh, clean water often lie in the same ditches, tunnels and infrastructure rights of way as sewer lines, there is tremendous potential for drinking water or irrigation water to be contaminated.

“Your water can be contaminated right out in the street in front of you,” said Dr. Mark LeChevallier, director of innovation and environment stewardship for American Water Co., the parent company of Tennessee-American Water Co., which serves Chattanooga.

Dr. Rand Carpenter, an epidemiologist and waterborne illness specialist with the Tennessee Department of Heath, says once that contamination is there, all it takes is contact and an unwashed hand.

Sewage contains pathogens, bacteria and viruses, he said, and if people touch something bearing those germs, they can get sick.

“These are big concerns to us in the health department,” he said.

Emerging strains of E. coli have proven very dangerous, especially to the young, the elderly or people whose immune systems are deficient.

Even a norovirus, “what we grew up calling the 24-hour virus,” can be a culprit of contamination that began with sewage, Dr. Carpenter said. ( source )

Periodic testing of tap water for simple things like heavy metals (i.e. lead, copper, mercury, etc.) and bacteria helps ensure the safety of everyone in your home.

In our experience, four basic groups of people ought to consider installing a nitrate filter on their drinking water line and/or main water line, though other folks may have reason to as well:

   * Anyone who has well water and lives in an area where regional flooding takes place on a regular or semi-regular basis. Nitrates occur naturally in the environment and if a well head gets covered by flood water, any crack or fissure in the well covering could allow nitrates, bacteria and other potentially harmful contaminants to infiltrate the well.

   * Anyone who has well water and lives in an area close to certain types of manufacturing facilities — most notably fertilizer factories. Sometimes runoff containing nitrates from facilities infiltrate local water supplies… by accident, of course.

   * Anyone who has well water and lives in or close to areas engaged in agriculture (farming). Many of the fertilizers used by even the smallest of farms contain nitrates and often times those nitrates will get washed away by rain water and make their way into aquifers. Additionally, farms that raise animals may not always dispose of nitrate-rich animal waste and just as in the case of nitrates from fertilizers, the nitrates from animal waste often find their way into aquifers.

First Line of Defense

Without testing, one will never know if their water contains potentially harmful contaminants. Therefore, a homeowner’s first line of defense against drinking water contamination is and always will be testing their drinking water.

For nitrate and nitrate in drinking water testing, SenSafe manufactures an easy-to-use test strip that measures both nitrate and nitrate concentrations in water at the same time and yields results in about one minute.

Should you rely solely upon a test strip to tell you whether or not your water contains potentially harmful contaminants? Not at all. Certified testing labs such as National Testing Laboratories specialize in analyzing drinking water for contaminants and follow strict government approved and/or recommended protocols when performing any testing.

A recent study done on fish and sediment taken from Mountain Island Lake in North Carolina detected higher than expected, and some cases safe, levels of toxic metals and PCB’s.

Toxic chemicals and heavy metals are collecting in the tissue of fish and the sediment beneath the water of Mountain Island Lake, according to a new study out this week.

A recent independent study by the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation determined that drinking water supplied by the lake is safe but the fish and sediment from the lake contains high levels of unacceptable industrial matter, according to David Merryman, Catawba Riverkeeper.

“I think from these results we should at least evaluate our fish consumption for PCBs, and that’s something I’ll be calling for,” said Merryman.

…

A PCB concentration of 70.7 parts per billion was found in largemouth bass that were tested. That is more than 20 points higher than levels considered safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said Merryman.

Mountain Island Lake provides water to Gastonia, Mount Holly and several other municipalities and is also a popular fishing spot for anglers in the area.

Samples of fish also showed signs of barium, mercury and selenium.

…

Any advisories about the consumption of fish would have to come from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

…

The water in Mountain Island Lake proved to be free of PCBs but did include arsenic and barium. Sediment contained arsenic, barium, lead, selenium and mercury. These elements may not surpass acceptable levels, but they are alarming to Merryman.

“This is important. This is the water we drink. It’s where we swim,” he said.

Many of the chemicals detected during the independent test come from the neighboring coal-ash ponds operated by area power plants, according to Merryman.

While the coal-ash ponds are independent of Mountain Island Lake, water is skimmed off the top of the ponds regularly and dumped into the lake.

“Those coal-ash ponds are a source of heavy metals to that lake that a million and a half of us depend on to drink, to cook and wash our clothes,” said Merryman. “We really shouldn’t let industry pump heavy metals into a lake that we depend on.”

Duke Energy is allowed to discharge into the river system under a permit.

…

The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation contracted with Pace Analytical Laboratories in Huntersville to conduct the tests on Mountain Island Lake.
( source )

We will post more information about the water quality in Mountain Island Lake as we learn it. For now, though, please take a look at the test kits below, as they will work for testing lake water, tap water and well water for potentially hazardous levels of metals in water.