Why test my well water?

Many potentially harmful well water contaminants have no taste, color or odor and may enter aquifers from which drinking water wells without notice. Municipal water supplies that draw from the same aquifers as local private water wells perform regular tests on their water (as mandated by law) so any changes would get noticed and corrected immediately where as no laws mandate testing of private wells… meaning private well owners would continue using contaminated water because they did not know of water quality issues.

How does well water contamination occur?

Despite the fact that wells draw their water from sources hundreds or possibly thousands of feet below the Earth’s surface, any source of contamination on the Earth’s surface can eventually makes its way into our subterranean water sources.

Potential sources of surface contamination that can trickle into our water supply include animal waste (pick up after your dogs, people!), wastewater from industry, sewer and sewage system overflows, tainted storm water runoff (don’t dump things into the sewers, people!), excessive fertilizer use in agriculture and on lawns, and in some cases pollutants come right out of Nature itself (examples: metals, arsenic, radon, uranium, etc.)

OK, so how do I get my water tested in McHenry County?

First, pick up a sterile water sampling container from one of the participating locations listed below. Then, return samples for testing on Tuesdays in April between 9 AM and noon at one of the same locations. Note: We suggest collecting your sample on the same day as you intend to drop it off for testing.

• Algonquin Township Office, 3702 Route 14, Crystal Lake, (847)639-2329
• Dorr Township Office, 1039 Lake St., Woodstock, (815) 338-0125
• McHenry County Dept. of Health, 2200 N. Seminary Ave., Woodstock (815) 334-4585
• McHenry County Dept. of Health, 100 N. Virginia St., Crystal Lake (815) 459-5151
• McHenry Township Office, 3703 Richmond Road, McHenry (accepting samples from 8 AM to 4 PM Monday – Wednesday; and 8 AM to Noon on Thursdays) (815) 385-5605
• Nunda Township Office, 3510 Bay Road, Crystal Lake, (815) 459-4011
• City of Marengo, City Hall, 134 E. Prairie St., Marengo, (815) 568-7112
• Harvard Police Department, 201 W. Front St., Harvard, (815) 943-4431
• Richmond Township Office, 7812 S. Route 31, Richmond, (815) 678-0077
• Grafton Township Office, 10109 Vine St., Huntley, (847) 669-3328

Source: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20160401/submitted/160409879/

What if I want my water tested… but I live elsewhere?

Not all discounted (or free!) water testing opportunities offered by departments of health and other agencies get publicized as much as they should so we recommend contacting your local health department directly to see what they may offer.

For those interested in performing water testing on their own well or tap water, we offer a wide variety of DIY water test kits in the Water Test Kit Store.

Lead in Water Test

Water Metals Test Strips

Total Iron Visual Test Kit

Total Copper in Water Test

Chromium in Water Test

Mercury in Water Test

]]> http://watertestingblog.com/2016/04/06/reduced-fee-water-testing-in-mchenry-county-illinois-april-1st-30th-2016/feed/ 0 http://watertestingblog.com/2014/04/24/why-test-for-fluoride-in-well-water/ http://watertestingblog.com/2014/04/24/why-test-for-fluoride-in-well-water/#respond Thu, 24 Apr 2014 13:03:03 +0000 http://watertestingblog.com/?p=7900 Many people believe that well water drawn from deep underground will contain nothing but good ‘ole H₂0… but in reality, well water, regardless of how far beneath the ground it comes, may contain a whole host of possibly harmful contaminants; just not as many man-made ones… usually.

Today we received a question from ‘KuntreeBoy’ who asked, “I live outside of town and don’t have city water pipes coming to my house. We have used the same water well for better than 20 years now and now some article in the local paper says all of us need to test our water for fluoride, like the toothpaste? Why test for that stuff in well water? That gets added to city water by water companies I thought?”

KuntreeBoy has a very valid point: Many city water departments DO add fluoride to the water they distribute, er, sell to the public. They do so for the purpose of reducing tooth decay.

Many people object to the addition of fluoride to the public water supply and a good number of countries have gone so far as to BAN the addition of fluoride to the water supply. But, here in the United States, until the USEPA reaches a firm decision on whether or not fluoride poses health risks to US Citizens, well, regional and local water departments have the discretion to add fluoride or not add fluoride… as long as any added fluoride does not exceed concentration limits established by the USEPA.

KuntreeBoy asked about well water, though…

Fluoride occurs naturally in the environment and may show up in well water depending on where a person lives. In fact, we have read over the years that some areas of the United States have groundwater with fluoride levels IN EXCESS of those deemed safe by the USEPA.

So why test for fluoride if you have well water? Simple: Because it the chance exists that your well water may contain fluoride since it occurs naturally in many parts of the world, including the United States.

The report gave details about what it considered serious drinking water contamination by oil production in an area called East Poplar, Montana.

Contaminated with WHAT?

The USGS found that nearly 18 square miles of shallow aquifers in the area contained brine (also called brine water by some), a known by-product of the oil production industry. Aside from its very salty nature, brine from oil production may also contain unwanted drinking water contaminants such as hydrocarbons, metals, and radioactive material from deep in the Earth (that occurs naturally).

A few more facts about the contaminated groundwater situation in Poplar, MT:

• The City of Poplar depends exclusively on the water from the aquifers and has approximately 3,000 residents.
   
• The USGS suspects that between 15 and 37 billion gallons of awater in the aquifers may contain brine produced by the oil industry’s operations in the region.
   
• To deal w/ the contaminated groundwater problem, the city had a pipeline from the Missouri River constructed.
   
• Financially, it made more sense for Poplar to build a pipeline from an external water source than begin the arduous, extremely expensive and sometimes considered ‘impossible’ task of cleaning up its contaminated groundwater
   
• During the course of its research, the USGS uncovered documented suspicions of groundwater contamination in records dated as far back as the 1950’s
   
• USGS research efforts found trails of reported contamination incidents dating all the way up the the early 2000’s
   

Many of you probably find yourselves thinking, “That’s it! Finally some PROOF that the oil production industry WILL ruin the ground water for all of us with its drilling practices!”

Oh, that such a claim could get made and actually hold up in Court.

As with any manufacturing process, oil production has many, many steps and processes… each of which could possibly fail at some point (or slowly over time) and result in the sort of contamination seen in Poplar.

Brine may have seeped out of industrial pipelines, temporary storage pits, above ground brine storage tanks, brine disposal wells, tanker trucks loading/unloading brine at drilling sites, or the actual oil production wells themselves.

Any or ALL of the aforementioned possibilities may have occurred at various times and as years passed contamination from any or all of those sources has spread throughout the connected aquifers beneath Poplar (since groundwater stays in constant motion).

Moral of the story?

As with any industrial or commercial activity, multiple ways for potentially environmentally damaging events will always exist and only through rigorous and thorough inspection and oversight by independent third party auditors will the public learn exactly how at risk those activities put its water supply.

Without those inspections taking place and followup penalties (when applicable) getting enforced, Big Business will have all the freedom it requires to keep on practicing ‘business as usual’… quite possibly at the expense of our safety.

More: East Poplar Brine-Contaminated Groundwater Plumes Continue to Move

Why the concern?

By now pretty much everyone has seen the videos of people lighting their well water on fire and some of you may have even seen the video where a representative from a gas or oil drilling company took a drink from a glass that allegedly contained fluid used in hydraulic fracturing — to ‘prove’ that the stuff was harmless.

One side says fracking destroys water sources and the other says it does little, if any, harm to the environment… so who should the homeowner believe?

Our opinion…

Regardless of WHAT industrial activity takes place in the area of a private water well, be it fracking, coal mining, gold mining, oil drilling, or maybe even commercial farming, the responsibility for monitoring the water coming out of a private well falls on the shoulders of the well owner.

With that said, private water well owners need to watch the quality of their water and alert authorities when a noticeable change in water quality occurs — because rest assured the companies potentially responsible for changes in ground water quality will not say a word about potential problems until they get caught by the EPA or called out by the public.

Simple tests the public can perform…

Opponents of hydraulic fracturing have called for gas and oil companies to release the list of chemicals involved in hydraulic fracturing for a number of years. Now of COURSE not one single company (that we know of) has made that sort of information public… which leaves many folks wondering how they will know if fracking fluid or other byproducts of the oil and gas drilling industry have crept into their well water.

Since the average person does not have regular access to laboratory grade equipment or usually feel like spending hundreds of dollars each time they want to test their well water, we suggest using the following simple water tests as indicators for when a person may want to consider having their water checked by a certified water testing laboratory:

• Chlorides
   
• Heavy Metals
   
• Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
   
• pH & Alkalinity

Drastic changes in the above water quality parameters may indicate that some sort of contamination of the well water source has occurred and that a well owner may want consider having a certified water testing laboratory perform a more thorough, complete analysis for contaminants not detectable using home water test kits.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) Office of Water Quality (OWQ) recently announced that it would offer residential well owners the opportunity to have their water tested for several critical water quality parameters as part of a statewide Ground Water Monitoring Network.

Tests included in the free well water testing program include testing for: metals, nitrate-nitrite, VOCs, SOCs, alkalinity, pesticide degradates, and other general chemistry indicators. The testing will get conducted free of charge for up to 400 qualified private water well owners across the state.

Eligibility for the program: Each well must be get registered in the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) water well database and each well must have an untreated spigot located outdoors that IDEM staff can easily access.

If interested in having your well water tested as part of this program, please visit http://www.in.gov/idem/6892.htm or contact Kevin Spindler by phone at 317-234-3243 for additional information.

Why test your well water?

We routinely get emails from folks asking why they should test their well water periodically. They say things like ‘my water looks fine’ or ‘it tastes the same as it has for years’ and we respond by telling them potentially harmful levels of contaminants such as coliform bacteria, nitrates/nitrites, heavy metals, arsenic, etc. impart little or no taste, smell or color to well water… and can infiltrate underground water sources without warning.

Roughly 96 percent of the U.S. rural population relies upon ground water, the water filling the cracks and porous areas between rock and sand, for fresh drinking water. Additionally, in the United States approximately 79.6 billion gallons per day of fresh groundwater get used by the public for irrigation, watering livestock, manufacturing processes, mining operations, thermoelectric power generation, and other purposes. ( source )
In Illinois: Thanks to sponsorship by the Central Regional Groundwater Committee, the Tazewell County Health Department, Peoria County Health Department, Woodford County Health Department, and the Mason Soil and Water Conservation will offer free private water testing for private well owners in Tazewell, Peoria, Woodford and Mason Counties.

The National Ground Water Association (NGWA) suggests routine well maintenance checks to help ensure water quality and proper operation of the well. As part of regular well maintenance, the NGWA also suggests that owners of prove water wells have their water tested (at least) annually or when well owner’s notice a change in their water’s taste, color, odor, or appearance.

Well water also should get tested in the event that the well head gets submerged by surface water (i.e. during a flood) or after the well head gets unsealed for service work.

Private well owners may collect free sample bottles from the Tazewell County Health Department, Peoria County Health Department, Woodford County Health Department or Mason County Soil and Water Conservation and drop off samples for free water testing between 8:30 a.m.- 2:30 p.m. on March 9th, 10th and 11th during Groundwater Awareness Week. Samples will get tested for nitrates and total coliform bacteria. This offer available only to private well owners.

Roughly 96 percent of the U.S. rural population relies upon ground water, the water filling the cracks and porous areas between rock and sand, for fresh drinking water. Additionally, in the United States approximately 79.6 billion gallons per day of fresh groundwater get used by the public for irrigation, watering livestock, manufacturing processes, mining operations, thermoelectric power generation, and other purposes. ( source )

In Illinois: Thanks to sponsorship by the Central Regional Groundwater Committee, the Tazewell County Health Department, Peoria County Health Department, Woodford County Health Department, and the Mason Soil and Water Conservation will offer free private water testing for private well owners in Tazewell, Peoria, Woodford and Mason Counties.

The National Ground Water Association (NGWA) suggests routine well maintenance checks to help ensure water quality and proper operation of the well. As part of regular well maintenance, the NGWA also suggests that owners of prove water wells have their water tested (at least) annually or when well owner's notice a change in their water's taste, color, odor, or appearance.

Well water also should get tested in the event that the well head gets submerged by surface water (i.e. during a flood) or after the well head gets unsealed for service work.

Private well owners may collect free sample bottles from the Tazewell County Health Department, Peoria County Health Department, Woodford County Health Department or Mason County Soil and Water Conservation and drop off samples for free water testing between 8:30 a.m.- 2:30 p.m. on March 9th, 10th and 11th during Groundwater Awareness Week. Samples will get tested for nitrates and total coliform bacteria. This offer available only to private well owners.

Well Water Test Kit for Coliform Bacteria

Well Water Test Kit for Nitrates and Nitritesa

Lead in Water Test

Water Metals Test Strips

Total Iron Visual Test Kit

Total Copper in Water Test

Chromium in Water Test

Mercury in Water Test

Good evening, Mandy, and thank you for contacting us about your well water concerns. As for what you may want to consider testing for, that all depends on the exact nature of your concerns as well as several factors which include:

1) Proximity of well head and well to septic systems and septic system components (i.e. tanks, drain lines, leach fields, etc.). Possible contaminants include: Bacteria, Nitrates, Nitrites.

2) Proximity of well head and well to agricultural activities (i.e. farming, raising of animals, etc.). Possible contaminants include: Bacteria, Nitrates, Nitrites, Pesticides.

3) Proximity of well head and well to industrial activities (i.e. machine shops, manufacturing, any process that uses chemical solvents). Possible contaminants include a HUGE for the imagination to comprehend. Identifying the types of industries in your area will help you determine what sorts of chemical compounds and solvents your well water may contain. Note: Testing for most of the contaminants from industrial processes will more than likely require the services of a water testing laboratory.

4) What sort of naturally occurring minerals and compounds exist in the ground where your well draws its water from? as an example, does the ground contain high levels of things like Iron, Copper, Arsenic, Hydrogen Sulfide, etc.?

By no stretch of the imagination have we touched on all the possible drinking water contaminants that could have found their way into your well water, but hopefully we have at least given you an idea of some things to consider.

Once you have pondered the above points, please feel free to contact us, again, and we will make a recommendations at that time. Testing options we offer range from very basic:

… to a lot more thorough:

… and the kits can get even more thorough. If you believe a more comprehensive test kit will fit your needs we have some listed in the National Testing Laboratories section of the Water Test Kit Store.

Good morning, Nick, and thank you for contacting us about your well water situation. First off, we would like to know why you suspect ‘contamination by gas’ in your well water? Do you smell a particular scent or detect an unusual taste?

Hydrogen sulfide gas (in very low concentrations) gives off a distinct sulfur or ‘rotten egg’ smell.

Methane, on the other hand, has no natural scent or smell to it. The smell associated with methane often resembles that of hydrogen sulfide gas because utility companies and commercial distributors of methane often mix trace amounts of hydrogen sulfide gas with the methane to aid in leak detection.

As far as testing for methane goes, the gas typically volatilizes very quickly at ambient (room) temperature and therefore testing for it in drinking water becomes extremely difficult.

Facts about Methane: http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/eh/chemfs/fs/Methane.htm

Something else to consider: If you detect a sulfur smell ONLY when running hot water, you may have a problem with your hot water heater.

Location, location, location…

The real estate market has touted that phrase for years as one of the most important factors in determining the value of property.

With that in mind, when it comes to well water quality, the ‘value’ (quality) of well water depends greatly on the placement of the well.

We see that you hail from Texas. By any chance do you live in an area where natural gas harvesting takes place or has taken place recently? If so, or if you live in close proximity to industrial parks or other potential sources of chemicals that could leak into the ground, basic at-home water test kits will more than likely not cover all the bases and you may want to consider laboratory testing

Regarding testing options, you can either contact a local water testing laboratory (your local board of health should have a list of qualified laboratories in your area) and have them perform analyses on your water or you may want to consider using mail-in use water testing services like National Testing Laboratories.

Moral of the story?

While pretty much everyone knows we suggest a regular regimen of well water testing (at the very least annually for things like coliform bacteria, nitrates, nitrites, arsenic, heavy metals, etc.), we ALSO think it of paramount importance that people do NOT procrastinate when it comes to testing their water if/when they suspect a problem.

Taking the time to perform the testing required to effectively and efficiently diagnose a water quality problem always makes sense! Remember: It’s your water, your health, and ultimately… your LIFE!

OK, so Sal’s inquiry resembled an angry statement more than it did a question, but he did raise a good point: Why DO we sell radiation detectors on a site that focuses mainly on water quality and water quality testing?

Rather than bore you with a long, drawn out explanation about how radioactive materials may naturally find their way into the water supply, we will instead provide you with a few pieces of information taken from an article we read recently:

• Hydraulic fracturing activity in Pennsylvania has generated waste that contains radioactive material.
   
• Data collected from water samples taken at and around the certain facilities in New York State that accepted Pennsylvania’s fracking leachate… has come under fire since a Syracuse laboratory very recently plead guilty to one felony count of mail fraud that quite possibly involved 3,300 falsified water tests and that laboratory performed a number of the tests at the facilities.
   
• Radioactive materials occur naturally in shale formations with concentrations varying from well to well and from formation to formation. Some experts believe the Marcellus Shale Formation could possibly contain the highest concentration of all the United States’ shale formations.
   
• Fracking waste includes brine, chunks of rock and ‘drilling mud’ which all could contain higher than desirable levels of radium isotopes in cluding one called Radium 226 which proves particularly worrisome since it dissolves in water — and could therefore travel quite far from the well site and/or dumping area during a good rainstorm.
   
• In this case Pennsylvania started looking into the matter of radioactivity and fracking waste in the beginning of 2013. New York State has started no such inquiry. Coincidentally, a certain company that manages fracking waste in Pennsylvania recently asked a landfill across the border to begin accepting fracking waste 49 percent faster than it had in the past.

The article goes into additional details about the situation in a community 80 miles south of Rochester and we suggest you read the full article so you can get the whole story.

Getting back to Sal’s question, though, tap water really ought not contain radioactive material. More than likely very few municipal water systems dispense drinking water that contains radioactive matter since things like that get monitored on a regular basis… BUT what about private water wells that NEVER get monitored for radioactive material?

Remember that part in the article about Radium 226, a naturally occurring radioactive material that dissolves in water? What if a person lives in an area where this material exists naturally under the ground in rock formations?

As ground water makes its way through rock formations containing Radium 226 and possibly to a well’s intake it likely picks up Radium 226 along the way… and carries it up to the surface where unsuspecting homeowners will use it for drinking, cooking, bathing, irrigation of foodstuffs, watering of livestock, etc.

Oh, and as you read in the article referenced above, companies responsible for disposing of potentially radioactive materials taken from hydraulic fracturing sites apparently have an interest in getting rid of those materials any way they can BEFORE the government catches them red-handed — or better yet, until the government catches them with glowing red hands.