Many people believe well water cannot become tainted by contaminants because it typically comes from locations far beneath the surface. Water Testing Blog strongly suggests that you DO NOT BUY INTO THAT LINE OF THOUGHT.

We ‘yelled’ that last bit for a reason. Unwanted and potentially harmful contaminants can find their way into well water regardless of how far below the surface it comes from.

Hence the reason why well water professionals and health officials suggest having one’s well water tested yearly.

Today’s story about well water contamination came from Kansas where residents of Butler County have had to all but abandon the use of their drinking water wells because of an unpleasant chemical smell.

Specifically, the water coming out of the private wells has a gasoline like odor to it.

A bad odor and taste in the well water has some residents in a neighborhood east of Andover concerned. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment and a water testing lab are working to find the source of the problem, but residents in the area are becoming frustrated.

Eric and Brittney Hauck say the well water at their house in Butler County smells terrible and they fear it could be unsafe.

“There was the smell of gasoline, kind of a paint-thinner kind of smell,” said Brittney Hauck.

The Haucks immediately stopped drinking the water and contacted the KDHE. Ash Creek Associates out of Portland, Oregon came out to their house and tested the water.

Last week, the Haucks received the results which showed elevated levels of benzene and other contaminants. The testing company gave the Haucks bottled water and installed a charcoal filter at no charge.

A week later, the family and many other neighborhood residents are still waiting for answers from the KDHE about what’s causing their water to become contaminated. KAKE News attempted to contact both the testing company and KDHE but could not get a response because the offices were closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Some residents suspect the contamination may be coming from a petroleum pipeline that runs through their neighborhood. Until they can get some definitive answers about the safety of their well water, residents say they’ll continue to use bottled water for drinking, cooking and bathing. ( source )

We feel very bad for the Haucks and all the other folks in that area affected by the suspected contamination of the aquifer from which they draw their well water. Hopefully the KDHE will determine the source of the well water contamination quickly and make it so the Haucks and their neighbors can once again perform simple tasks like cooking and bathing with their well water.

Testing for benzene in drinking water?

The average person cannot obtain an off-the-shelf test kit capable of testing for the presence of benzene in drinking, tap or well water. That sort of testing must get done in a laboratory using advanced analytical techniques and equipment.

AS usual at this point we suggest contacting your local water department or board of health to see if they can provide you with a list of certified water testing laboratories. For those wishing to use a mail-in water testing service, you may want to take a look at the 83 water quality parameter test package offered by National Testing Laboratories.

Today’s inquiry came to us from ‘Kishore’ who asked a question about a liquid test reagent that turned yellow when added to a sample of water containing chlorine-based water disinfection tablets.

Dear Sir, I mixed chlorine tablets(water purification Tablets) in water. my friend taken water in Test tube. mixed one drop of liquid then water color changed in yellow. what is name of that liquid. how to by that.please can sent details.

Hello, Kishore, and thank you for the inquiry about a liquid test reagent that turns yellow in the presence of chlorine. Based upon your description we suspect your friend used a chemical called ‘OTO’ to perform the testing. OTO stands for Orthotolidine dihydrochloride. It test for total chlorine (free chlorine plus combined chlorine collectively).

You can find OTO in most pool supply stores, as it normally comes in the more basic pool water testing kits for total chlorine and pH, the two most commonly tested pool water quality parameters.

Many companies also sell the two reagents separately since they do tend to ‘go bad’ after a year once opened and exposed to air.

If you want to perform more precise chlorine concentration testing for free chlorine, the compound most people have the most interest in (usually) when attempting to determine if water has had the proper amount of disinfectant added to it, you will want to invest in a drinking water test kit that uses DPD-based reagents. ( What is DPD? )

For an even simpler means of testing the chlorine levels in water samples you may want to consider a product such as the SenSafe Free Chlorine Water Check, an EPA Approved method for determining free chlorine concentrations in drinking water, or the WaterWorks 2 Free & Total Chlorine product that uses the same free chlorine testing method as the SenSafe Free Chlorine Water Check and also includes a separate test area for total chlorine.

Want to know more about the differences between free and total chlorine? Check out an article called Free Chlorine, Combined Chlorine, Total Chlorine.

One more thing about OTO before we go: We have heard that some countries have outlawed its use due to scientists having evidence that it may cause cancer in humans… so check local laws before making a purchase!

We hope this helps!

With so many news outlets discussing recent findings of arsenic in bottles of apple juice bearing brand names it comes as no surprise to us that we would receive an inquiry like the one we just got from ‘Hadiah’ who asked, “I would like to know exactly what arsenic testing kit i could use for my daughters science fair project. She is testing for arsenic in apple juice.”

Thus far in our limited research we have found only one kit that we THINK may have the ability to perform testing on various juices: Arsenic Quick. Why do we think this kit may have promise? Quite simply, its design (hanging the test pad reaction area above the liquid getting tested and relying solely upon arsenic gas liberated by a small quantity of food grade acid) means the color of the juice ought not interfere with reading the resultant color of the test pad after at the completion of the test.

Food grade acid? Liberated arsenic gas? Is this test SAFE?

Having performed the test numerous times ourselves, we can assure you that the test procedure and required testing reagents pose little to no harm to people performing the tests.

Food Grade Acid – Instead of using more caustic and potentially dangerous acids like other kits, the Arsenic Quick Test Kit uses tartaric acid, an acid commonly found in various ingredients used in foods most of us eat on a daily basis.

Liberated Arsenic Gas – While the directions for the Arsenic Quick Test Kit instruct testing personnel to perform testing in a well-ventilated area, the amount of gas generated by such a small sample should pose no risks.

But, just the same… open a window in the kitchen and turn on the stove exhaust fan (if you have one), test in the garage w/ the door open, or take some other precaution that will keep fresh air coming into the test area.

Proper precaution in any testing environment, even if the testing environment seems safe, always pays off!

We knew that this question would come along sooner or later. ‘Lisa’ wrote in and asked, “can my daughter use the arsenic water testing kit on juice? can you recommend any ideas for a science fair project?”

While we have no evidence to support the notion that Arsenic Quick Test Kits will function properly with juice as the test specimen rather than water, we have used the kits extensively and know that the color of the juice ought not affect the results since the test pads react with ‘arsenic gas’ liberated from the sample inside the reaction vessel and not the actual water sample.

Note: We contacted the makers of Arsenic Quick Test Kits about the effectiveness of their Arsenic Quick Test Kits with juice as samples and will most certainly share any definitive information we learn.

Getting back to the topic of using Arsenic Quick Test Kits, at first the process may sound a bit complex — but trust us when we say it really does not take a rocket scientist to perform the testing. Hence the reason why a number of people, including folks at the USEPA and other high profile government (as well as non-profit) agencies, have recommended this kit as a viable and useful field testing option when faced with situations where a water source may contain inorganic arsenic as a contaminant.

At this point you may find yourself asking, “Wait, didn’t you say the test liberated arsenic gas?”

Yes, Arsenic Quick Test Kits do liberate small amounts of arsenic gas in the test vessel but the amounts generated should not pose a problem as long as the testing takes place in an area with proper ventilation. In other words, open a window, test in the garage w/ the door open or perform your testing outdoors.

Arsenic Quick Test Kits do not require typical controlled laboratory environments in order to yield quality results.

What about the science projects?

So glad you asked! Depending on where you live, Lisa, and how many bodies of water you have access to for sampling purposes, you could have quite a few really cool science projects for your daughter to work on.

A company called Water Safe manufactures a test kit called the Science Fair Project Test Kit which gives young (or old!) experimenters the ability to test up to 10 bodies of water for the following important drinking water parameters:

Do other options exist for more testing? Of course they do… but the WaterSafe Science Fair Project Test Kit offers a good sampling (8 parameters for 10 bodies of water) of tests for a reasonable cost — around $80. If that option does not suit your budget, WaterSafe also makes the same kit in a smaller size that tests up to 4 bodies of water for the same water quality parameters for around $40.

Got bigger testing plans?

If you believe you will want to perform long-term testing and will need 25 to 50 tests per water quality parameter, SenSafe manufactures a par of kits called the Well Driller Standard and Well Driller Master test kits which both come with plenty of testing supplies to keep testing projects of longer duration well-stocked.

An old saying goes, “No matter where in the world you go, there you are.”

We believe that saying has quite a lot of significance in the world of water testing, too, because water supplies all over the world could potentially have contamination issues… so testing the water locally will always make sense in our minds.

Having said that, today’s question comes to us from a gentleman named ‘Dan’ who wrote, “i live in a village in Haiti, about 30 minutes from Les Cayes. I need to test the water supply that the locals use. We suspect ground water contamination. What do you recommend?”

First of all, Dan, what sort of contamination do you suspect? More than likely we think you mean ‘bacterial contamination’ based upon the information we have read about the sanitary conditions in parts of Haiti so we will operate under that assumption.

With that in mind, take a look at products such as EZ Coliform Cult Bacteria Water Test Kit which make it possible for pretty much anyone to test for the presence of coliform bacteria in a water sample without the need for expensive lab equipment or incubation ovens. Additionally, with the use of a battery powered portable UV light source at the end of the testing period a person can positively identify E.Coli if present in the sample.

Simple things besides bacteria to test for?

The list of potential drinking water contaminants stretches on for miles and could, from estimates, possibly even circle the globe a few times!

Don’t let that daunting number dissuade you from performing due diligence by testing for some of the simpler, easier to detect and ‘definitely-worth-knowing-about’ contaminants. We will now list a few of the ones that spring to our minds right away, but please do not take this list as the final word in ‘simple’ drinking water contaminants most people can easily test for.

Now some of you may look at that collection of test kits and say, “Wow! That’s a lot to deal with!” but don’t worry, we would also like to take a moment to list for you some combination test kits that keep everything organized, provide easy-to-follow instructions and allow user to test for a number of water quality parameters.

Anyone that has taken the initiative to install a water filter or water purification device/system in their home deserves a bit of praise… and those that continue to take an interest in the quality of their water after installing a water treatment system deserve even MORE for their efforts.

As an example, ‘J. Mampilly’ from India installed a system and now seeks to determine if he has installed the correct unit. He asked,

I would like to know about how i can confirm the effectiveness of my water purifier. Labs in India that can certify and throw light on the camparative quality of water before and after using a water purifier. Thank You

Unfortunately we do not have familiarity with water testing laboratories in India and cannot directly assist with this situation. We can suggest, however, that you contact your local health department and ask them for a list of certified water testing laboratories in your area.

Coliform Bacteria Test Kit

Before…

In order to know what type of filter or what filtering capabilities you should purchase, invest (yes, we said invest) in a thorough water analysis performed by a qualified water testing laboratory. Here, again, we suggest contacting your local board of health and asking them, for a list of certified drinking water testing labs. Alternatively, or if no labs exist in your immediate vicinity, you can use the services of accredited water testing companies such as National Testing Labs.

No matter what, though, always have your water tested BEFORE deciding on a water treatment system. Oh, and one more thing: Don’t think for one second that a salesperson doing an in-home water test has the same water testing tools or qualifications as a reputable water testing laboratory. Remember: 99% of all salespeople attempt to sell things and not accurately analyze a situation — especially if accurately diagnosing a situation could cost them a sale!

And after!

As ‘J. Mampilly’ has done, we should ALL take an interest in comparing the quality of water that comes out of our water filter systems. Only then will we know if the money we invested in (not spent on!) a quality drinking water filter system performs as expected.

Testing water quality beforehand gives us not only an idea of what we need to filter out of our water, but also a checklist of water quality parameters to monitor post-filtration. Should follow up water testing reveal that these ‘issues’ did not get corrected or suddenly show up months after the installation of a water system, perhaps the water filter has stopped working or never really worked properly in the first place and needs service of some sort.

And in conclusion…

Many people go through life ‘deaf, dumb and blind’ when it comes to the quality of their water — until an (initially) unexplainable health problem pops into their life. Then, and unfortunately sometimes too late, those same people get very interested in the quality of their water and want to punish or otherwise penalize others for allowing them to consume tainted, polluted and/or contaminated drinking water.

Although we feel much sympathy for the victims of poor quality drinking water, most of us here in the United States have the ability to at least once every great while perform basic testing for critical water quality parameters such as heavy metals (i.e. lead, mercury, copper, iron, etc.), coliform bacteria, pesticides (i.e. atrazine and simazine), chlorine levels (free and/or total), total hardness, total dissolved solids, and many others.

Many times the contaminants in a water supply will have no taste, carry no odor and not appear before the naked eye. Only testing will alert you to their presence.

Every so often we receive questions from readers who ask something along the lines of, “What do most people ask about?”

Seemed odd at first (several years ago), but after getting asked the same thing so many times we eventually came to the conclusion that a good number of people really and truly don’t know what questions they ought to have about the quality of their drinking water.

Therefore, for your reading pleasure we will now give a list of the 10 most popular topics on Water Testing Blog for the month of August (2011):

1. Free Chlorine, Total Chlorine and Combined Chlorine
    
2. Testing for Fluoride in Water
    
3. Converting Hardness: Grains per Gallon to Parts per Million
    
4. What is DPD?
    
5. Chlorine Testing: Drinking Water vs. Pool Water
    
6. Simple Chlorine Testing Meter
    
7. Dirty Pool Water Can Make You Very Sick
    
8. Testing for Chlorine in Drinking Water
    
9. Lead in Soil
    
10. Private Well Water and Natural Gas Drilling

In no way does the above list begin to scratch the surface of what curious folks read on our site, but it may help you decide what questions YOU want answered… and if you come up with a question or topic you’d like us to address, send it to us using our submit a comment/question form.

It did, however, kind of shock us that hydraulic fracturing (aka: fracking), a means of extracting natural gas from shale buried deep beneath the Earth’s surface, came in so low on the list given the amount of (bad) publicity hydraulic fracturing has received in the past few years.

We also found it somewhat odd that bacteria in water did not make a single appearance in the list but then again, most folks in the United States have city/municipal water and make the assumption that city/municipal water couldn’t ever contain something as common as bacteria — and that, friends, can sometimes become a dangerous assumption to make!

Unlike many sites out there who shy away from posting opinions that differ from their own, we prefer to embrace the difference of opinion as one of two things, or both:

1. As a chance to learn more about a topic and alter our views if necessary because we found out new information.

2. As a chance to learn more about a topic and provide additional information we may not have already known about the topic here on the Water Testing Blog.

Today’s difference of opinion came to us from a gentleman by the name of ‘Keith’ who wrote, “You stated ‘Radon gas in homes can wipe out whole families and the victims never even know the gas existed before it happens. ‘ This is total B.S. I have studied Radiation effects in people since 1969 and there is no known case of this ocurrance. Prove it.”

First of all, thank you, Keith for contacting us.

Upon reading our own statement, perhaps we may have over-dramatized things a tiny bit, but then again, perhaps not. According to a page on the United States Environmental Protection Agency web site (www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/citguide.html), “Radon is estimated to cause about 21,000 lung cancer deaths per year, according to EPA’s 2003 Assessment of Risks from Radon in Homes (EPA 402-R-03-003).”

The numbers of deaths from other causes are taken
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s
2005-2006 National Center for Injury Prevention
and Control Report and 2006 National Safety Council Reports.

The EPA’s web site goes on to say, “Radon is estimated to cause many thousands of deaths each year. That’s because when you breathe air containing radon, you can get lung cancer. In fact, the Surgeon General has warned that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States today. Only smoking causes more lung cancer deaths. If you smoke and your home has high radon levels, your risk of lung cancer is especially high.”

So, while radon doesn’t run up into homes with both barrels of a shotgun blazing as it takes human life, it does seem to kill quite a few people — with both the USEPA and Surgeon General of the United States in agreement that radon poses a significant health risk to humans.

Today’s inquiry came from ‘Bill’ and it seems as though Bill has a bit of a bone to pick with fluoride in his drinking water and wants to do two things, both of which nearly bring tears to our eyes:

1. Bill wants to test the fluoride level in his water before it goes into his water filter. As awe have said time and time again, without a baseline scan of your water’s quality you will undoubtedly run the risk of selecting the incorrect tools for cleaning up your water.

2. Then, Bill wants to test the fluoride levels in the water after it leaves his water filter to make sure the filter did its job. Continual monitoring of one’s filtered water quality gives real-time performance data on one’s chosen water improvement device(s).

Enough of our words, though, and let’s here from Bill himself: “I am looking for a fluoride test–I am installing a filter to remove fluoride–and want to know what levelis presecn Please advise–the page on your website says to use the eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter but the product description says nothing about it being used for fluoride”

None of us here at Water Testing Blog have control over the content posted on the sites of merchants who sell the eXact Micro 7+ water testing meter… but we can assure you that the meter does have the ability to test for fluoride in drinking water.

As a direct result of your inquiry, Bill, we checked on the meter manufacturer’s web site for the current version of the eXact Micro 7+ water testing meter manual and on page 19 of the document you will find instructions on how to use their meter to test fluoride levels in drinking water.

As of 8/17/11, the date contained in the manual’s file name, the eXact Micro 7+ detects levels of fluoride in water as low as 0.1 ppm and as high as 1.1 ppm. As with any test procedure, use of proper dilution techniques would allow for the quantification of higher fluoride levels if needed.

Keep in mind, though, that the basic eXact Micro 7+ kit does not come with the necessary fluoride reagent strips. You will find those, along with many other optional reagentstrips for testing a bunch of other water quality parameters listed on the eXact Micro 7+ ReagentStrip page.

We absolutely LOVE posting about free water testing… and this free water testing announcement comes to use from Scott County, Minnesota where the Minnesota Department of Agriculture will offer free nitrate testing for County residents beginning at 8 am this Saturday (7/30/11) at the county Highway Garage at 600 Country Trail E. (located next door to the county hazardous water facility).

Directions: Take Highway 282 a half-mile west of the intersection of County Road 17, Highway 282 and Highway 13.

Homeowners should bring at least a half cup of water in a clean plastic or clean glass container. Run the water for five to ten minutes prior to collecting and if you have a water filtration system installed, make sure you take a sample of water both before and after the filtration unit. People with water softeners need only take one sample, though.

Make sure you refrigerate the sample(s) if you do not intend to go and have them tested right away. Also, make sure all testing gets done within 24 hours of sample collection.

And… if my well contains nitrates? What then?

If you test your water for nitrates and find that it does, in fact, contain nitrates, you will most certainly want to have your water tested by a certified water testing laboratory in your area or by a reputable mail-in water testing lab such as National Testing Laboratories to see if any other problems exist.

Then, using the results of your comprehensive water test, select the correct water filtration system to remove and/or reduce the levels of unwanted drinking water contaminants found in your water.