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/2012/08/25/discounted-or-free-water-testing-announcements/ http://watertestingblog.com/2012/08/25/discounted-or-free-water-testing-announcements/#respond Sat, 25 Aug 2012 13:32:16 +0000 http://watertestingblog.com/?p=6078 Every once in a while we find a news article about free or discounted water testing offered in some part of the country and we then post that information here, on Water Testing Blog. Offers of free or reduced cost water testing get people that otherwise would not get test their water to go and have their water tested by qualified personnel… and we want more people to do that.

So, with that said, if you hear of any free or reduced cost water testing going on in your area please drop us a line via our Contact Us Page and we will share that knowledge with all of our readers.

Note: Offers of free water testing from water treatment system retailers will get reviewed on a case-by-case basis and we reserve the right to not post offers that smell more like advertising ploys than honest efforts to help people understand more about the quality of their drinking water.

The Benton Soil & Water Conservation District and Minnesota Department of Agriculture are conducting the nitrate clinic from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Aug. 1 and 2. The clinic will be at the SWCD’s fair booth in the Education Building.

Nitrate is a common contaminant, particularly in shallow wells, dug wells and wells with damaged or leaking casings. Nitrates can come from fertilizers, animal waste and human sewage. It is tasteless, odorless and colorless. ( source )

Nitrates’ undetectable nature (except by testing. see nitrate/nitrite test strips) makes it a potentially dangerous well and drinking water contaminant. Unborn children, infants and small children can become very ill and possibly even die from prolonged exposure to elevated nitrate levels in their drinking water (see Blue Baby Syndrome).

Nitrate’s effects on older children and adults remains unclear at this time but some health experts have tentatively linked prolonged exposure to higher than normal nitrate levels with serious illnesses like lymphoma.

More free nitrate testing in Minnesota

For those not able to get out to the Benton County Fair to take advantage of the free nitrate testing the Benton Benton Soil & Water Conservation District located at 14 Second Ave. W in Foley, MN offers local residents free nitrate testing during office hours during the week. Interested parties may call 968-5300, Extension 3 or email Adam@soilandwater.org.

Testing for nitrates elsewhere

As we learn of more free and/or discounted well water testing offers we will post them on the site. In the meantime, if you would like to perform testing of your well water yourself we recommend the WaterWorks Nitrate & Nitrite Test Strips currently available in our Water Test Kit Store. While not as awesome a deal as free testing, you can get 50 tests for around $14 and you can get the water test kit you need in just a few days.