Is your well water safe?

It may look crystal clear, but don’t let that fool you; contaminants could be lurking.

The only way to know for sure if your home’s drinking water is safe is to have it tested.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends having well water tested every year, and the best time to do so is now, in the spring after a few rainy days.

“Unlike public water systems, there are no water quality monitoring requirements for private wells, and many never get tested,” said Scott Kendzierski, director of environmental health services for the Health Department of Northwest Michigan. “It is up to well owners to make sure their drinking water is safe for consumption. Fortunately, it’s easy, quick and inexpensive to test drinking water.”

The local health department offers two types of well water testing kits for a nominal fee. Both kits are available the department’s offices in Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet and Otsego counties. The kit, which tests for the presence of E. coli and other bacteria, costs $16; and the kit that tests for fluoride, chloride, hardness, iron, sodium, sulfates and nitrites is $18. These are small prices to pay to assure your family’s drinking water is safe. ( source )

So, for less than $40 residents of Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet, and Otsego counties in Michgan can have their water tested for coliform bacteria (including E. Coli), fluoride, chloride, hardness, iron, sodium, sulfates, and nitrites. We consider THAT a really great deal!

OK, but what about everyone else?

If you live close to those counties but not actually in any of them, the article concludes by saying, “For more information about well water testing, visit www.nwhealth.org or call your local health department office.” — and we could not have said it any better than that.

Looking for test kits for home use?

Although all of us at Water Testing Blog highly suggest that private well owners get their water tested annually by a certified water testing laboratory such as National Testing Laboratories or one recommended by your local Health Department, if you would like to test your own well or ground water we can definitely point you in the right direction.

The Water Testing Blog Store carries a variety of useful test kits for home water testing. Below you will find some of the more popular kits we carry:

You will find the full selection of test kits currently available on the Water Testing Blog Store’s Main Page.

Testing of water from several wells showed higher than ‘normal’ amounts of sodium, sulfates, hardness and… dissolved arsenic.

DURHAM — Traces of arsenic in some of the town’s wells have prompted the Department of Health to encouraging residents to test their water, according to a press release posted on the department’s website.

People who live or work around Brewster Elementary School are advised to have their water tested within the next three to six weeks. The department is also asking residents to fill out and submit a report — also on the department’s website — so officials can determine the extent of contamination.

Arsenic, which causes health problems like skin discoloration (melanosis), hardening of the skin (keratosis) and cancer, can contaminate groundwater naturally and through human activities such as mining. It can also come from pesticides and fertilizers that contain arsenic. ( source )

Health officials went on to say that although certain area wells did show elevated levels of arsenic contamination, people do not need to get alarmed just yet. They do not have enough test data to reach any firm conclusions and would like the private well owners to lend a hand and by conducting testing and reporting the results via a form currently available on the Durham Department of Health web site.

For those not aware of the dangers arsenic in drinking water may pose, take a look at some of the prior articles posted on this site:

• What is Arsenic and Can It Harm You?
   
• Study: Arsenic in Water and Diabetes
   
• Study: Exposure to Low Levels of Arsenic Lowers Influenza Resistance

Can the general public perform arsenic testing on its own safely?

Absolutely. The Arsenic Quick™ line of arsenic in water test kits offers allows users to quickly and accurately test for dissolved arsenic (As3 & As5) in drinking water in as little as 12 minutes.

Below you will find links to the three most popular Arsenic Quick™ test kits offered in our Water Test Kit Store:

For more information on Arsenic Quick Test Kits, take a look in the Arsenic Testing section of our Water Test Kit Store.

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.