A while back we posted an article about the extent of mercury contamination in freshwater streams and rivers in the United States and in that article we told you how fish from ALL 291 bodies of water tested came up positive for mercury. Therefore an article which recently appeared on the Denver Post web site about smallmouth bass in the Juniata Reservoir coming up positive for mercury contamination did not surprise us.

How certain government officials proposed to DEAL with the problem, however, DID shock us.

GRAND JUNCTION — A reservoir that provides drinking water for Grand Junction is closed for fishing because smallmouth bass there have tested positive for mercury contamination.

Steve Gunderson, director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s water- quality division, says the mercury levels in Juniata Reservoir are extremely low, but mercury accumulates in fish. He says state health officials are meeting with city officials about keeping the reservoir off a list of bodies of water that don’t meet water- quality standards, if they can get rid of all contaminated fish or isolate the reservoir. ( source )

Sounds to use like the officials seem more concerned about keeping this body of water off the ‘contaminated list’ than they do about the actual underlying problem: Mercury in the water!

Granted the article only gave a brief overview of the situation at Juniata Reservoir, but we really find it strange that the proposed method of ’solving’ the problem involves removing (killing) all the smallmouth bass… and/or keeping those fish from migrating to another body of water.

No matter how you look at it, once again it seems that certain government bodies care more about regional revenue from tourism, revenue from sport fishing, and revenue in general than they do about finding the underlying cause of all the problems… and this means, to some extent, that the general public must keep a vigilant eye on issues involving contamination of lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, and any other bodies of water because government agencies have their own agendas which may or may not include keeping toxic materials out of the water.

Testing for Metals in Water

A quick and efficient way of testing for the presence of metals in your water involves the use of a water testing product such as the SenSafe Water Metals Check which provides users with semi-quantitative water metals levels in under three minutes.

SenSafe Water Metals Check requires no iodine indicator solution, no meter, and no specialized training. Just dip the strip for 20 seconds, wait two minutes, and match color on the end of the strip to the color chart provided on the bottle.

Metals detected by SenSafe Water Metals Check include, but are not limited to, copper, cobalt, zinc, cadmium, and nickel.

SenSafe Water Metals Check has a low detection limit of 10ppb (parts per billion), much lower than any comparable product on the market.

What About Testing for Mercury in Water?

Simple test kits exist for testing mercury levels in drinking water as well. SenSafe manufactures two different Mercury in Water Test Kits and both, like SenSafe Water Metals Check, require no meter or special training to use and yield results in a matter of minutes.

We recently read that the Federal Government has decided to investigate the severity and cause elevated nitrate and bacteria levels in well water out in the State of Washington.

From the sounds of things, the situation has gone on for quite some time… and residents in rural Lower Yakima Valley may have had elevated nitrate and bacteria for quite some time now w/o anyone really looking into where the contaminants came from.

Stories like this one ought to make EVERY private well owner seriously consider having their water tested by a certified water testing laboratory and performing routine checks themselves with at-home well water test kits — because the responsibility for the safety of private well water rests solely with well owners.

YAKIMA, Wash. — An effort to address polluted groundwater consumed by many rural Lower Yakima Valley residents was formally launched Thursday as local, state and federal officials pledged to tackle a stubborn problem that’s been decades in the making.

“It’s going to be a big challenge. It’s a difficult problem,” said Tom Tebb, regional director for the state Department of Ecology in Yakima.

“But it matters because we have people drinking water contaminated by nitrate and bacteria and at unsafe levels in some cases,” Tebb said at a news conference to announce the effort.

Five agencies released the final version of a report on groundwater quality that is a wide-ranging compilation of historical data about the contamination, health effects, regulatory responsibilities and recommendations for action.

…

Of some 30,000 private wells in the Lower Valley, 20 percent have elevated levels of nitrate and bacteria.

This week, federal regulators began their own testing program on 150 wells to try and determine the source of the nitrates and bacteria.

To make sure the samples are tested in a timely fashion, a mobile laboratory has been driven to Yakima from Manchester, Wash., on the Kitsap Peninsula, home of the regional lab for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Two microbiologists will test for coliform bacteria, fecal coliform and e. coli and conduct “microbial source tracking” to determine if the bacteria are human or ruminant. Cattle are ruminants, and manure from dairy and feedlots is one suspected source of both nitrate and bacterial contamination.

Another round of testing in April will help the agency determine the link between elevated levels of nitrate and sources of nitrate, which can come from manure, chemical fertilizer or septic systems.

If the test results allow regulators to identify obvious sources of pollution, enforcement action could follow, said Tom Eaton, director of the Washington operations office of the EPA in Seattle.

Results are expected sometime this summer. ( source )

If you own a private well and do not have your water tested on a regular basis you run the risk of exposure to an almost limitless number of contaminants that can get into the aquifer at any time and for a number of reasons. Natural disasters, changes in weather patterns, heavy demand from other well owners, etc. can all affect the quality of the water in your well.

Water Tests by a Certified Drinking Water Testing Lab

Short of having the Environmental Protection Agency come out and test your well and/or water, no better option exists than to have your water tested by a certified drinking water testing laboratory like National Testing Laboratories which offers three levels of testing:

Basic Test Kit — Tests for 27 Common Drinking Water Contaminants: Aluminum, Arsenic, Barium, Cadmium, Calcium, Chromium, Copper, Iron, Lead, Magnesium, Manganese, Mercury, Nickel, Selenium, Silver, Sodium, Zinc, Alkalinity, Chloride, Fluoride, Nitrate as N, Nitrite as N, Sulfate, Hardness, pH (Standard Units), Total Dissolved Solids, and Turbidity (Turbidity Units).

Most Popular Test Kit — Tests for 83 Drinking Water Contaminants: Bacteria (presence/absence for coliform and E.coli), (19) heavy metals and minerals, (6) other inorganic chemicals, (5) physical characteristics, (4) trihalomethanes and (47) volatile organic chemicals.

Most Popular + Pesticides — Tests for 83 Drinking Water Contaminants: Bacteria (presence/absence for coliform and E.coli), (19) heavy metals and minerals, (6) other inorganic chemicals, (5) physical characteristics, (4) trihalomethanes and (47) volatile organic chemicals plus an additional 20 tests for pesticides, herbicides and PCB’s.

Last Summer the Department of Natural Resources in Missouri allegedly delayed releasing the results of bacteria testing in Lake of the Ozarks to keep from having to shut down beaches and other popular waterfront vacation spots during a highly profitable time for the region. Needless to say that when news leaked out that some of the water test results indicated the presence of potentially harmful bacteria, people got upset — and the blame game began.

Two Missouri senators filed legislation on Thursday seeking to strip water quality testing authority away from the state Department of Natural Resources and give it to the Department of Health and Senior Services.

Sens. Brad Lager, R-Savannah, and Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, filed the bills the same day that Lager’s office released a draft Senate committee report on DNR’s decision to delay the release of water quality tests that showed high levels of bacteria at the Lake of the Ozarks last summer.

“I don’t have confidence that the department won’t mess it up again in the future,” said Lager, who headed the committee investigating the incident. “And the Department of Health and Senior Services is responsible for public health and safety.” ( source )

The more we hear about this situation, the more things that jump out at us and the more questions we have. As an example, why do people think that taking the water testing responsibilities away from one politically influenced group and handing it to another politically influenced group will make a difference?

Politics and profit run hand-in-hand and no matter WHO does the testing, when the choice between forcing business owners (local voters) to take a sizable loss in revenue or allowing (non-local) people to swim and spend money even though a slight chance exists that they may get sick from a little bacteria, well…. Which do YOU think people whose jobs depend upon political agendas will choose?

Doesn’t seem to matter WHICH agency you choose, the answer will always come out the same: Get that money.

So, in lieu of having incorruptible third party testing done, which would cost too much money and put a lot of people in government agencies out of work, the public must fend for itself if it wants to know the truth about water quality.

Personal Test Kits for Bacteria

• Coliform & E. Coli in Water Test Kit — Test kit confirms the presence/absence of coliform bacteria and, with a fluorescent light source, the presence/absence of E. Coli. Good for Drinking water applications.

• Coliform Bacteria in Water Test Kit — Test kit confirms the presence/absence of coliform bacteria in a water sample w/in 48 hours. Good for drinking water applications

• 18 Minute Bacteria Test Kit — Test kit detects E.coli, species of Salmonella, Shigella, Enterobacter, Klebsiella and many other coliform and non-coliform bacteria in 18 minutes. Excellent test for lakes, streams, ponds, rivers, etc.

• Pool & Spa Bacteria Test — Test kit detects seudomonas, Aeromonas, E.coli, species of Salmonella, Shigella, Enterobacter, Klebsiella and many other Coliform and non-Coliform bacteria in 20 minutes. Excellent test for pools & spas.

Interested in other articles related to this topic?

• Heavy Rains and Runoff Responsible for Elevated E. Coli Levels
• Dangerous Bacteria Level Cover Up?
• Water Testing Costs Money, But States Don’t Have Any!

A neighborhood in the Stamford, CT has wondered about the safety of a piece of property for a while. Now they have has serious reason to question all past actions taken to protect them from the toxins which they believe lie under its soil… and even more reason to plan for a way to deal with those toxins in the future — since they have turned up in a number of local homeowners’ wells.

North Stamford Concerned Citizens for the Environment formed last fall when homeowners near Stamford’s Scofieldtown Park learned their well water was tainted with banned pesticides. The same toxins had been found in the soil of the park, which was built on a former industrial landfill. Many in the area believed commercial waste from the site had leached into the ground water, and they decided to act.

…

Though the EPA had been monitoring the park since 1996 and locals had been complaining about it for a good 10 years prior, Lauricella discovered little had been done.” The reports I was able to unearth showed that the city, state and federal government all let this inquiry fall through the cracks,” she says.

“Over time, there were people who raised various issues,” states Ben Barnes, Stamford’s former Director of Operations. “I don’t think the city ignored them particularly.” Barnes himself spent the waning months of the Dannel Malloy administration dealing directly with the well contamination and investigating the history of Scofieldtown.

Barnes explains the former landfill is subject to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (better known as Superfund), and that prompted testing by the EPA. But the agency’s findings placed Scofieldtown in a nebulous area between an ecological disaster that qualified for a massive amount of federal intervention and an old, abandoned dump that was determined to be “clean enough.” ( source )

If the term ‘clean enough’ used in reference to a potentially hazardous site where hazardous chemicals more than likely found their final(?) resting place does not scare you, then what will? At least in this case the government has decided to step in, as the article mentions later on, but what about all the years before when children played in that park and those chemicals may have found their way into local wells unnoticed?

Something to think about: Even the best intentions of the most honest water quality inspectors go to waste when politics and budgets get involved… and the same goes for the intentions of most homeowners when the subject of decreasing property values comes up.

Testing for Pesticides in Well and Drinking Water…

Most of your traditional at-home drinking water test kits and well water test kits will not contain a test for pesticides for a number of reasons including keeping costs down and the fact that a kit would have to contain way too many different, and often times complicated, testing supplies one would need to test for the 1,000’s of commonly (and uncommonly) used pesticides in the world.

While you can test for two VERY commonly used pesticides, atrazine and simazine, using an at-home pesticides test kit, having your water tested by a certified water testing laboratory like National Testing Labs will provide you with a much better picture of your water’s safety by letting you know if it contains 20 different pesticides, herbicides and PCB’s.

While very critical to monitor water quality parameters such as pH, what happens when one group’s tests indicate that a body of water has a ‘problem’ with its pH level and another group’s readings indicate the exact opposite?

People in Gastonia, NC will get the chance to live out that exact scenario in the coming weeks.

Gastonia’s resident water treatment guru is questioning a state study that has added Mountain Island Lake to a list of “impaired” waterways.

The N.C. Division of Water Quality recently identified 21 lakes and streams that have undesirable pH levels. Mountain Island Lake — the main water source for Gastonia and Charlotte — was one of eight sections of the Catawba River to make the list.

State officials took 34 water samples in the lake between 2006 and 2008, and four of those showed the water was slightly acidic. Acidic water isn’t harmful to drink, though it threatens fish and other aquatic life.

But Ed Cross, Gastonia’s division manager of water treatment, said the state’s findings stand in stark contrast to what local readings have shown for more than a decade.

“I was kind of stunned by it myself,” Cross said Wednesday. “We’ve got a summary of 12 years worth of testing data, and there’s no indication of this anywhere.”

The federal Clean Water Act requires that states evaluate public waterways every two years to ensure they are safe for boating and swimming, drinking or other uses. That spurred the study from 2006 to 2008, said Susan Massengale of the Division of Water Quality.

Scientists determine whether water is acidic or basic using pH readings. Pure water is neutral, with a pH of 7. Levels above that are alkaline, while readings below it are acidic.

Of the 34 samples taken from Mountain Island Lake, four came back with a pH level slightly below 6, with the lowest at 5.7. By federal law, if 10 percent or more of the samples are outside the desired threshold, the waterway is deemed “impaired,” Massengale said.

Four out of 34 equates to 11 percent, meaning Mountain Island Lake barely made the impaired list, she said.

“So that’s when we start looking at possible sources of impairment,” said Massengale. “At this point, we’re seeing these acidic results in other mountainous areas of North Carolina.”

Acid rain and increased runoff from construction and development may have caused the higher acidity in some areas, she said. The recent, regional drought may have also been to blame.

But the findings still perplex Cross. Gastonia takes a minimum of three water samples a day from the lake, which has amounted to several thousand samples over the last 12 years, he said. All of the samples are tested by a certified laboratory with standardized, calibrated instruments, he said.

Based on those readings, the lake’s average pH level has ranged between 7.1 and 7.5 — slightly alkaline.

“I don’t know, if you hold 34 samples in your left hand and 10,000 in your right hand, whether you judge them equally,” Cross said.

Officials with Charlotte’s water treatment division could not be reached for comment Wednesday. But Cross said he plans to make sure state leaders know of the discrepancy in testing data, before the recent figures are accepted as fact.

“I can assure you we will file our data and comments,” he said.

Massengale said she can only vouch for what the state found. While the levels don’t indicate an immediate health risk, officials will continue trying to determine the cause, she said.

“All I know is we’ve got 34 data points and four of them show the pH was low,” she said. “Barely low by the standard, but low.

“We need to pay attention to that.” ( source )

So… two knowledgeable groups have conflicting data about the waterway’s pH levels. Now what? We predict that a number of meetings will take place and in the end that no one on either side will come out smelling like roses.

The waterway, on the other hand, will most likely not receive any of the attention needed to figure out WHY pH levels came up differently for the two groups.

In the end, and as usual, ultimate responsibility for monitoring the quality of the water people drink, bathe in, swim in, and use for many other purposes falls on the end users.

Even though the USEPA lowered the maximum contaminant level for arsenic in drinking water to 10ppb (parts per billion) several years ago, many people still find themselves plagued by water containing much higher than acceptable levels of arsenic — because they get their water from a private well.

If only one person used and owned the well tainted with arsenic, the responsibility for periodic testing for arsenic in drinking water and remediation of the well water (if needed) would fall on the shoulders of the well owner. Open and shut case.

What happens, though, when a small collection of users share the well and a third party owns the well?

Situations just like that happen all the time and recently some State lawmakers in California have decided to see what they can do to get safe drinking water into the homes of people currently in those situations.

Riverside County Supervisor John Benoit and state Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez toured mobile home parks across the eastern Coachella Valley Saturday, to better grasp the widespread problem of arsenic-contaminated groundwater there.

“We’re here to work together to try to solve these problems,” Pérez told about 40 residents at the 80-unit Sunbird park in Thermal. Thousands of east valley residents live in areas that potentially contain hazardous levels of arsenic in their groundwater, a recent Desert Sun report found.

“It’s just a matter of the political will” to provide those residents with safe drinking water, Pérez said.

The strategy likely will involve a mix of short- and long-term water fixes, officials said.

At the 96-unit St. Anthony’s mobile home park in Mecca, officials showed Benoit and Pérez a “reverse-osmosis” filter — resembling a more advanced kind of tap-water purifier — that could be installed at each trailer to remove the arsenic.

The filters, priced around $135 to $300 apiece, could serve as short-term solutions in large parks like St. Anthony’s while valley officials consider a proposed pipeline that will serve many east valley parks roughly from Vista Santa Rosa to Mecca, estimated to cost $22 million.

Such a pipeline is years away, though, given the economic recession and budget deficits, officials said.

The reverse osmosis filters could be a permanent fix for the arsenic woes at smaller, remote parks to the southeast, where it’s not feasible to connect to the Coachella Valley Water District’s water supply, said Sergio Carranza, a longtime advocate for east valley water issues.

…

The local lawmakers also toured Desert Mobile Home Park, known as “Duroville,” where several thousand residents still drink water from wells testing at 26 parts per billion arsenic levels, officials there said. State and federal officials say water testing above 10 parts per billion is unsafe if ingested regularly over decades.

…

After the tour, Benoit and Pérez agreed that to solve the east valley’s arsenic problem, valley officials and water agencies first must unite under a regional water quality board.

That would give the area access to more grants and funding, to help ensure thousands of east valley residents have clean, arsenic-free drinking water, they said.

St. Anthony’s resident Francisco Mendez said he’s lived at the park for about 25 years, and he worries how the park’s arsenic-contaminated water might affect his four children, ages 5 months to 12 years.

Mendez said he was encouraged by the lawmakers’ visit and that safe conditions at the park are long overdue.

“We’re people who work in the fields, in construction,” Mendez said. “We pay taxes. We have rights.” ( source )

It may take a while for programs to get set up for those people and others like them but at least someone with a little political power has taken an interest in their situation. Hopefully the necessary changes in policy (and enforcement) won’t take too long and become a reality.

Testing Your Well Water for Arsenic

we cannot emphasize enough that the responsibility for the quality of the water coming from a private well rests solely with the well’s owner and that public policy set forth by the USEPA in no way, shape or form applies to private wells. In other words, if your well water has arsenic concentrations greater than 10ppb, no one from the government will send you a warning letter telling you about the problem.

The USEPA, health officials, and well water organizations all suggest that well owners have their water tested annually for contaminants — including arsenic.

Options for Arsenic in Well Water Testing

As usual we will tell you that no form of drinking water testing can, or should ever, take the place of drinking water testing performed by a certified water testing laboratory if you have good reason to suspect that dangerous levels of contaminants may have gotten into your water supply.

For all other times though, a simple at-home drinking water test kit from the Arsenic Quick line of field-ready arsenic test kits may work just fine.

Arsenic Quick test kits claim to have the shortest testing time on the market, an independently verified testing procedure, the simplest test instructions, and the safest reagents.

You can find more information about Arsenic Quick test kits on the following web sites:

• www.ArsenicQuick.com
• www.Arsenic-Test-Kit.com

Recently the North Carolina State Department of Environment and Natural Resources discovered it may have reason to test groundwater near a gas station whose tanks, they suspected, may have started leaking. While they didn’t find the chemicals they expected, they certainly did find chemicals in the water.

They found tetrachloroethylene in a family’s well water in Randolph County, North Carolina.

Staley, NC — When the North Carolina State Department of Environment and Natural Resources tested neighborhood well water in Randolph County, they were looking for petroleum leaks from a run down gas station, but they didn’t find any. What they did stumble upon was another dangerous chemical. A chemical used for either dry cleaning or cleaning grease off of auto parts.

“Every time I go to wash my hands, I just think, what more damage is that going to do to my body?” says Andrea Falk. The dangerous chemical, tetrachloroethylene, was found her homes well water weeks ago. She says ever since she got her letter from the state about her bad water, she’s been paranoid, “It said that there was a dangerous amount of the tetrachloroethylene. It said don’t use it for any household uses including dishwashing, clothes washing, bathing yourself, drinking, brushing teeth and flushing the toilet. I mean you can’t use it at all. There is no usable water in this house.”

Wayne Jones, the environmental health supervisor for Randolph County said the state notified him of the chemical and this week a second test confirmed the contamination of the dangerous substance, ” It’s a very nasty chemical, but it takes a long time to be classified as a known carcinogen and there has just not been that much testing. But it is a pretty nasty chemical that is suspected to be a carcinogen.”

But Falk has been using it the past four years, and now she’s beginning to question her change in skin and hair. “You kind of wonder, is it the house? Is it the water?,” she says, “We are a small little community here. We’re out in the middle of nowhere. There might be 20, 40 families right in this area. Who knows how far it could be affected.”

The Randolph County Health Department is working with state agencies to investigate this contamination because they don’t know where the source of the chemical is or how far it’s reach extends.

July 1, 2008 is the first time North Carolina started it’s state-wide well water testing. If your well was tested before this date, the Randolph County Health Department says it isn’t likely the water was tested for this chemical. ( source )

What is Tetrachloroethylene?

According to Wikipedia, “Tetrachloroethylene is an excellent solvent for organic materials. Otherwise it is volatile, highly stable, and nonflammable. For these reasons, it is widely used in dry cleaning. Usually as a mixture with other chlorocarbons, it is also used to degrease metal parts in the automotive and other metalworking industries. It appears in a few consumer products including paint strippers and spot removers.” ( source )

If you suspect that your well water may contain unwanted contaminants like tetrachloroethylene, at-home drinking water test kits such as the WaterSafe All-In-One and the SenSafe Water Quality Test Kit will not test for anything beyond the basic water quality parameters. You will need to seek assistance from a certified water testing laboratory such as National Testing Laboratories.

About a month ago we reported that environmental testing had detected elevated levels of radon in a residential area called The Acreage in Florida… and that 13 families in the development had children who currently suffer from or did suffer from brain tumors or cancer. The Palm Beach County Health Department also conducted in-depth interviews with 12 of 13 families. They did not, however, come up with any definitive explanations for the cluster of cancer cases observed.

Radon Suspect in Florida Tumor and Cancer Cases

Now, after months of back-and-forth between the families, the Health Department, and various State Officials, it appears as though the State of Florida will step in and perform its own testing and hopefully find a reason for all the illnesses.

THE ACREAGE – State officials will test the water and soil at cancer-stricken children’s homes in The Acreage, said the Florida Department of Health’s chief of staff.

That decision, which the children’s families had sought for months, was disclosed Friday.

“If they want us to test it, we will,” said health department Chief of Staff Robert Siedlecki Jr.

“Wonderful,” said Tracy Newfield, whose daughter had a brain tumor removed when she was 11. “They’ve had our medical records and had our approval to test whatever they want.”

Gov. Charlie Crist pledged Thursday to seek federal help to investigate whether something has caused higher-than-normal rates of pediatric brain tumors and cancer, particularly among girls, in The Acreage. ( source )

While the families whose children fell ill and other families in the area applauded the State’s decision to intervene…

Senate President Jeff Atwater, R- North Palm Beach, also expressed sympathy.

“My heart goes out to the Acreage families who are experiencing the heartache of cancer,” he said in a statement. “I cannot imagine the pain these parents, grandparents, children and their loved ones are feeling. I support the calls for further investigation and thank Governor Crist for committing to get to the bottom of this.” ( source )

… while others felt the State had no reason to get involved and indicated that the inconclusive nature of results from previous testing did not immediately warrant another round of (more in-depth) environmental testing.

However, state environmental officials tested water last year to help the health department. Its samples from 50 wells chosen randomly in The Acreage indicated a few homes had elevated levels of radium and other radioactive substances that could result from natural causes.

The same study concluded ground water quality in The Acreage was “generally good.”

Palm Beach County’s heath director, Dr. Alina Alonso, said investigators’ interviews had not turned up a cause and that it didn’t make sense at this stage to run tests looking for one. ( source )

No matter how you look at it, every family in that area has suffered. Whether in the form of illness, stress over not knowing if a loved one may suddenly become ill, or greatly diminished property values because no one wants to move into a suspected cancer cluster, no family in that area has escaped unscathed.

All of us here at Water Testing Blog hope the State of Florida can get to the bottom of things and help those folks out.

Can a Person Test for Radon at Home?

Absolutely. Test kits exist for detecting the presence of radon in air and in water. One can also install radon mitigation systems to reduce and/or remove radon from a building.

Below you will find links to other articles on the topic of radon in the air, radon in the water, ways to test for radon and ways to get rid of radon:

• Radon Gas Can Kill Whole Families… Slowly
• Test Kits for Radon in Water and Radon in Air
• Radon Test Kits (for New Jersey)
• Radon Removal Systems

As a general rule, the Unites States Environmental Protection Agency sets guidelines and tells individual States that they may not set their own guidelines in a less stringent manner. States may, however, establish and enforce more restrictive guidelines when it comes to environmental issues.

In this case, however, it appears as though the USEPA has deemed Florida’s environmental laws pertaining to the disposal of compounds containing nitrogen and phosphorous too lax and not enforced heavily enough.

TALLAHASSEE — In a move cheered by environmental groups, the federal government on Friday proposed stringent limits on “nutrient” pollution allowed to foul Florida’s waterways.

The ruling — which will cost industries and governments more than a billion dollars to comply — marks the first time the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has intervened to set a state’s water-quality standards.

“I’m thrilled,” said Linda Young, director of the Clean Water Network, an advocacy group. “It is something that will ultimately start restoring Florida’s waters.”

The agency issued the proposed regulations after reaching a settlement in August with five environmental groups that sued the federal government in 2008 for not enforcing the Clean Water Act in Florida.

The caps on phosphorus and nitrogen levels in Florida’s lakes, rivers, streams, springs and canals would replace the state’s vague “narrative” approach to monitoring the effects of waste and fertilizer runoff, which the EPA deemed insufficient. The proposed rule includes provisions giving the EPA oversight authority to enforce the standards. ( source )

As one would expect, though, not everyone applauds the EPA’s involvement…

But a coalition of agriculture and industry groups – which formed two months ago to oppose the EPA rules – responded quickly by calling the proposed limits a “water tax.”

“This terrible regulation is not needed because Florida nutrient standards are perfectly adequate,” said Jim Alves, a lobbyist who represents power companies and wastewater utilities. “The science isn’t there to do this regulation.”

Barney Bishop, the president of Associated Industries of Florida, said the cost – which his group estimates at more than $50 billion – would hurt business recruitment and job creation.

“It’s onerous, stupid, ridiculous and idiotic,” he said.

Ever since the lawsuit settlement, political officials and special interests have waded into the debate. Gov. Charlie Crist, Attorney General Bill McCollum and Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Bronson previously voiced strong objections and suggested the state might sue the EPA.

The issue is expected to generate intense political debate ahead of three public hearings throughout the state in February. The final rule takes effect in October. ( source )

No matter whose side you agree with and/or side with, the fact remains that large amounts of agricultural runoff containing phosphorous, nitrates, nitrites and other compounds capable of damaging Florida’s waterways will continue until the State of Florida tightens up its enforcement or the EPA steps in and attempts to tighten up enforcement in a different, probably less friendly manner.

In the meantime, individuals can check the quality of their own water using simple, at-home drinking water test kits. Granted these drinking water test kits will not take the place of water tests conducted by certified water testing laboratories, but they will do a great job of helping people keep an eye on some critical water quality parameters.

Well Driller Master Test Kit

Each Well Driller Master Test Kit includes the following tests:

• 50 Free Chlorine Test Strips
• 50 Ultra Low Total Chlorine Test Strips
• 50 Hydrogen Sulfide Test Strips
• 50 Total Hardness Test Strips
• 50 Nitrate/Nitrite Test Strips
• 50 pH Test Strips
• 24 Manganese Tests
• 50 Water Metals Test Strips
• 10 Arsenic Test Strips
• 50 Iron Test Strips
• 50 Copper Test Strips
• 2 Lead in Water Tests
• 2 Pesticide Tests
• 1 bottle of Bacteria Test

This morning one of our readers sent us a link to an article related to a topic we discussed earlier this year: Government Officials Cover Up Dangerous Levels of Bacteria. Apparently the fallout from that debacle has not finished falling and as a result, new and interesting fact about the quality of water in Missouri has come to light.

Just before Memorial Day last year, tests showed high E. coli levels at Lake of the Ozarks. Those results weren’t made public until after a second round of testing showed bacteria levels had dropped.

The fallout for tourism and health was limited. Not so the political consequences for Gov. Jay Nixon.

Since last fall, a state Senate committee chaired by Sen. Brad Lager, R-Savannah, has held hearings into the testing failure.

It has produced useful information, most notably news that other tests showed hexavalent chromium, a heavy metal linked to cancer, in drinking water in Hannibal and Louisiana.

But the committee — indeed, the entire Legislature — is avoiding a much larger and more difficult issue: Clean water.

Missouri’s system for ensuring water quality and safety is broken and about to go bankrupt.

It’s not broken only at Lake of the Ozarks, Hannibal and Louisiana; it’s broken everywhere. ( source )

Sounds like some serious work needs to get done in that state, but where will the money come from? Clearly it sounds like a time when those responsible for polluting the water in that state (and others) step up and pay for the damage they have done in the form of fines, financial penalties and and so forth.

Yep. That SOUNDS like a good idea, but…

Each year, the state Department of Natural Resources tests water at about 350 sites; many are tested more than once.

Most of the money for those tests comes from fees on permits taken out by companies that discharge pollutants into lakes and rivers.

The fees haven’t been raised in a decade, but the cost of testing continues to rise. In 2005, lawmakers established a task force to make recommendations about the issue. It never met.

In 2007, with fees scheduled to expire, lawmakers set up another task force.

It recommended a 35 percent fee increase, with future hikes for inflation. But nothing happened until last year, when the fees were extended at their old rate for another year.

Most observers expect lawmakers to extend the fees without hiking them in the current session.

That means polluters still won’t pay their fair share of the cost for testing, and citizens still won’t be adequately protected.

If lawmakers fail to act, the testing program will be broke by July and gone entirely next year. ( source )

Ouch. So the burden to testing the water in Missouri will fall onto the shoulders of… the taxpayers, and ironically, the same people affected by the polluted water. This assumes, of course, that lawmakers will not allow the water quality testing program to (pardon the pun) wash away entirely.

Articles like this do nothing if not reinforce the notion that when it comes to guaranteeing the quality and safety of the water you drink, bathe in, swim in and use for other everyday purposes including watering your lawn and making sure the family dog or cat has something cool to drink, no one has your best interests at heart… unless you take an interest in the quality of the water yourself.

Sorry, but the days of someone else making sure your tap and well water won’t make you sick ended a long time ago. So we all pretty much have only one option right now: pay qualified water testing professionals to perform a full battery of tests every once in a while AND perform simpler drinking water tests ourselves between laboratory tests.

Otherwise we run the risk of falling through the cracks of an outdated, undermanned, soon to be bankrupt water management system.