We recently received an email from Emma in North Carolina and she wrote,

We’re building a new house right on the edge of where the local water plant stops delivering water and want to know if we will be better off hooking up to the water line or having well put in. Some people say we’re lucky to have a choice, but really it’s just one more decision we have to make and we already have so many! Can you help? Thanks!

Emma

As Emma implied, sometimes having a choice makes for a lot more work – if you choose to research the options properly.

Hooking up to city water offers the security of knowing that the city has to test its water routinely before distribution and must inform you if it has experienced any ‘incidents’ which may put you in danger. On the flip-side, though, you will receive a bill each month to cover the expense of testing, monitoring, filtering and purifying the water going into your new home.

Investing in a well for your new home will rid you of that pesky water bill each month, but it will also make you 100% responsible for the quality and safety of water it produces once it passes an initial test done by the well drilling company.

We honestly do not have an answer, Emma, because some well water comes up cleaner and more pure than any water company could ever distribute… and other well water comes up nastier than backwoods swamp water and/or containing potentially dangerous chemical compounds whose origin even the best scientists in the World have trouble locating.

Pretty much all city water contains some form of disinfectant which can create unpleasant tastes and odors in drinking water. It can also irritate skin, bleach clothing, etc. and some water systems contain obnoxious (and smelly) levels of chlorine which can make water taste absolutely wretched.

While on the topic of chlorine, the most widely used disinfectant for public water systems, produces trihalomethanes (THM’s), a potentially carcinogenic disinfection byproduct, when chlorine molecules attack organic contaminants in water.

Getting back to the well water, commonly occurring events in the environment can change the quality of well water on a daily basis. Heavy rains, a lack of rain, temperature and even air pressure can radically alter the nature of water pulled from well – and let us not forget about pollution from industry which can seep into the ground 100’s of miles away from a well and still, somehow, make its way into that water that well produces at some point.

So, Emma, in the end, and if you want to make the best possible decision regarding where you will get your drinking water, we suggest you have a sample of water drawn from the aquifer your proposed well will access and have it tested by a certified water testing laboratory such as National Testing Laboratories. Contact the well drilling company you think you may use to drill, if you go that route, and ask them for advice on getting sampling and testing done. Do make sure they submit the sample to a certified water lab, though, and not do the testing themselves!

Then contact the local water company and ask for a copy of their latest water quality report, usually referred to as a Consumer Confidence Report and abbreviated as CCR.

With both reports in hand, weigh the pros and cons of each and remember that no matter which option you choose, you may STILL want to consider having a Whole House Water Filter System installed and/or purchasing point-of-use water filter devices for the shower, faucet and countertop.

For those who would like a definition of pH and an explanation of why testing for pH matters, take a look at one of our previous blog entries: “Testing for pH Levels and Why pH Matters“.

Since we have not, as of yet, posted a blog entry specifically about alkalinity, we figure we will take care of that matter right now by including a basic definition of alkalinity in this blog entry:

In a nutshell, alkalinity refers to water’s ability to resist sudden changes to its pH and to measure alkalinity we measure the amount of CaCO₃ in the water. In nature CaCO₃ typically comes from rocks and soil that water passes over in its travels.

Pool and spa owners will add CaCO₃, sometimes referred to as “Alkalinity Increaser, to counteract the basic (high pH) nature of liquid chlorine and/or the acidic (low pH) nature of most chlorine tablets and sticks.

Since pH and alkalinity have such a close relationship, and it would make sense to measure one if you planned to measure the other, the makers of the WaterWorks brand of water quality test strips created the pH and Total Alkalinity Test Strip which measures both water quality parameters simultaneously and gives accurate, repeatable results in under 30 seconds.

Directions:

1. Dip 1 test strip into a water sample for 10 seconds, then remove.
2. Immediately match pH color, then match alkalinity test pad color.

Detection Levels:

• pH: 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5, 8.0, 8.5, 9.0
• Total Alkalinity: 0, 80, 120, 180, 240, 360 ppm (mg/L)

Most of us take for granted that we will have safe, clean tap water coming out of our faucets and think nothing of the dangers presented by not filtering and/or purifying our water prior to use.

• Cryptosporidium, a gastrointestinal parasite, contaminated the municipal drinking water of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1993 and caused one hundred deaths. ( source )

• A deadly strain of e.coli bacteria found its way into the municipal water supply of Walkerton, Canada in 2000 causing hundreds of residents ill and eventually taking the lives of seven people. ( source )

It sounds shocking that such horrible water quality tragedies could happen in modern times given the frequency of municipal water testing, but two very important facts stand out if you take the time to think about the way in which municipal water systems operate:

1. Municipal water systems test for a set number of water quality parameters and sometimes rare, unusual, and often not-tested-for water vermin like Cryptosporidium can easily slip past even the most stringent water testing programs. Example: Milwaukee, WI in 1993.

2. Municipal water systems test water at the point of distribution, not use. This means the water leaves water treatment facilities fully tested and approved for consumption… but keep in mind that the water must travel through many miles of piping and plumbing with literally thousands of joints and welds where harmful contaminants could find their way into the water if only one of those places has cracked or otherwise become deficient.

So as you can see, even the best water treatment plants in the world with the best records for drinking water quality cannot issue a 100% guarantee that your tap water will contain no unwanted contaminants. Once water leaves their grounds its quality can change for innumerable reasons and in innumerable ways… so ultimate responsibility for making sure you have safe, clean tap water falls on… your shoulders.

Installing the correct point-of-use water filtration and/or purification system (i.e. countertop, undersink, whole house, shower, etc.) can negate pretty much all the possible risks associated with water contamination between the distribution point and your favorite glass.

Take the time to learn about the different point-of-use water treatment options you have available and, of course, don’t forget to test your drinking water periodically, even after installing a filtration/purification system, to make sure it continues to function properly!

We recently learned of another vendor, WaterFilters.Net, that offers drinking water water test kits on their web site.

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!

When times get tough for the general public, they also get tough for the average criminal who will do whatever it takes to keep his or her income stream alive — including impersonating a city or county worker assigned to test water quality in a residential neighborhood.

Recently police have received a number of reports mentioning fake county workers asking residents in Forsyth County, Georgia to allow them access to their homes supposedly for ‘official business’ involving water related matters.

Just north of Atlanta in Forsyth County, authorities are warning people about a situation that could prove either physically or financially dangerous. While they are not saying what the motives of these people are when they come to doors there; they are warning people that the county never conducts business in the manner in which these imposters are suggesting.

Since little is known at this time, people in surrounding counties and in Atlanta should also be aware since it is not know how far and wide this scam may be. If you have grave suspicion that something is awry, phone 911 immediately.

The officials have received several calls where individuals posing as water department employees in which they say they need entrance into the house to test the water.

Again it is not clear if how these imposters make appointments either at the front door or by phone, it is well advised to not let any stranger into your home. Apparently some have been contacted by phone to set up an appointment.

Living in the perilous times that we do, it is always important to keep your guard up. Always question any utility – gas, water, phone, etc. if you did not contact them.

The Forsyth County Water and Sewer Department says they never solicit over the telephone and residents should be leery of anyone contacting residents; especially if they did not initiate the contact.

Citizens of the county are being advised not to give any personal information to those inquiring.

Forsyth County Director of Water and Sewer Tim Perkins said. “Most all of our work can be accomplished outside the home.”

At any time when strangers approach your home, be cautious and always ask for valid identification no matter who they are – and for whatever reason they have approached your home even if you made the appointment. But also be advised that some crime groups are sophisticated these days and can reproduce false ID.

It is not known if these potential criminals are operating only in Forsyth County or in surrounding counties as well. Always err on the side of caution. As the old adage goes, “better safe than sorry.” ( source )

PUBLIC SAFETY TIP: Under NO circumstances should you ever allow a stranger into your home unless they can prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that they have legitimate credentials and reason to enter your home. As a general rule, if the County, City or State really DID need access to your home, they would have called and written you well in advance of showing up on your doorstep.

Additionally, as the article stated, most of the tasks any County, City or State personnel would need to accomplish would take place outside your home and they would have no reason to ever go inside your home.

Variation of the Scam

Some of us here at the Water Testing Blog have heard about shady water treatment companies sending their sales resp out into neighborhoods with instruction to tell residents that the City or County sent them out to conduct a test of the home’s water. Once inside, the salesperson would ‘prove’ that the water contained all sorts of dangerous ’stuff’ and more or less refuse to leave until the homeowner, usually an elderly person, signed up to buy an expensive, overpriced, and/or totally unnecessary, water treatment system.

PUBLIC SAFETY TIP: Reputable water treatment system salespeople will not show up on your doorstep and city/county workers out to perform testing will not EVER attempt to sell you a water treatment system.

Need a Safe Way to Get Your Water Tested?

For those that feel they may need to have their water tested, but do not want to have a stranger in their home that might hit them with a high pressure sales pitch at the end of the test, other options exist:

At-home drinking water test kits from SenSafe and WaterSafe provide fast results for basic water quality tests and submit-by-mail water quality test kits analyzed by a certified drinking water quality testing laboratory such as National Testing Laboratories provide a highly detailed water quality report in about a week or two.

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.