This free water test kit offer comes to you courtesy of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development through the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program with the Allegan Conservation District.

Why test for nitrates?

While not considered a substantial health risk in lower quantities and concentrations, as they occur naturally in many foods and get used to preserve and cure meat products, but concentrations in excess of 10 mg/L (1 mg/L = 1 part per million) in drinking water pose a health risk to young children under the age of 6 months old, expecting mothers, nursing mothers, and the elderly.

Why 10 mg/L?

The United States Environmental Protection Agency set the ‘action’ limit for nitrates in drinking water at 10 mg/L, meaning a public water system would need to immediately take steps to reduce nitrate concentrations in the water

Due to most water well contamination by nitrates and nitrites coming from surface runoff, shallow wells therefore stand the greatest chance of having higher than acceptable levels of nitrates and nitrites. Health officials and well water professionals typically suggest that all drinking water obtained from wells get tested annually for — at the very least — nitrates, nitrites, and coliform bacteria.

Also, if you just had a new well installed, or work done on your existing water well, you should have the water tested prior to using water from the well for drinking or cooking purposes.

For more information on the free water testing offer in Allegan County, Michigan, you can visit their web site www.allegancd.org or you can contact Ana at at 269-673-6940, ext. 5.

Source http://www.mlive.com/wayland/index.ssf/2016/04/free_water_testing_will_be_off.html

“I’m trying to find someone to come test my well water. I’m in Reidsville, NC. And we are just renters I have never had well water before and I would like to know what’s in it. When it rains really hard for a few days the water smells like fish. Then sometimes like onion do you know of a company that test wells in Reidsville??”

While we do not know of a specific company that tests well water in your area, Janelle, we suggest contacting your local health department and asking them if they can provide you with a list of qualified local water testing laboratories.

We took the liberty of doing a quick Google Search for ‘well water testing in Reidsville, NC’ (click the link, Janelle!) and while no immediate matches popped up, a few companies appeared to have locations w/in 20 or 30 miles of where you live, Janelle.

You should also check out the EPA’s North Carolina Water Page. It contains a number of links and phone numbers that may prove useful.

Regarding the ‘fishy smell’ in well water?

Without actually testing the water we suspect that your water may contain some form of organic matter whose levels change in accordance with the changing of the level of the aquifer from which your well draws its water. From what we have read the organic matter usually does not pose much of a health threat, though in some instances it can, and it typically poses more of an aesthetic nuisance than anything else.

Sources also indicated that certain types of bacteria in one’s well may also cause well water to possess a fishy smell at times.

Regarding the ‘onion smell’ in well water?

Most resources we viewed suggested changing the anode rod in the hot water heater since it, over time, can begin collecting mineral deposits or fail in other ways that can result in water coming from the water heater smelling like onions and sometimes, though we neglected to mention this in the previous section, like fish.

Treating for onion water and fishy water?

As noted a moment ago, making sure the anode rod in the water heater has not gone bad or become encrusted with unwanted mineral deposits makes for a wise course of action if water in a home has taken on an onion or fishy smell.

One site we found said the following about diagnosing and treating water that contained foul odors:

“This type of odor may indicate the presence of organic (non-pathogenic) matter. The most common method of treatment for this type of odor is activated carbon filtration or chlorination followed by carbon filtration. It is helpful to attempt to diagnose the cause of the odor so that proper treatment is designed. You may also test your well water for bacteria and nitrates to confirm portability of the water.” ( source )

No matter what, though, Janelle, make sure you get the water tested by a certified water testing laboratory — preferably one that specializes in diagnosing problems with well water.

Hi.

We are a detergent manufacturing company here in Malta and we need to make regular checks on water that is used in the manufacturing process especially for nitrates, bacterias, sulfide and others. What you can suggest me ?

Thanks and Regards

Jesmond F.

Thank you, Jesmond, for your inquiry. Given the items you wish to test for, we have a few suggestions:

• Our Water Test Kit Store currently carries a product it calls ‘Water Quality Test Kit‘ which contains tests for all of the items you mentioned.
• Another kit made by the same company called the Well Driller Test Kit includes tests for all of the tests you asked about and will make it possible for you to test quite a few water samples — up to 50 samples in some cases.
• Now if you’d rather use a meter to perform testing, naturally we suggest the eXact Micro 7+ Meter which, according to the latest information we’ve read, can test for Ammonia, Bromine, Chloride/Salt, Chlorine Dioxide, Chromium (Hexavalent), Copper, Cyanuric Acid, Fluoride, Iodine, Iron, Low Range Total Hardness, Manganese, Nitrate, Nitrite, Ozone, Acid pH, Alkali pH, Potassium, Sulfate, Sulfide, and Turbidity. Granted the meter cannot test for bacteria, but you can always pick up tests for bacteria separately.

• Speaking of separately, simple dip-n-read test strips exist for the purpose of testing each of the tests you asked about — with the exception, of course, of bacteria which uses a presence/absence ‘mug’ test procedure if you wish to test down to drinking water standards: Bacteria, Sulfides (as hydrogen sulfides) and Nitrates.

Hopefully one or more of the options above will suit your water testing needs.

In this case the community leaders in a part of Illinois decided to make certified well water testing available to residents right as the snows (hopefully) will begin to start melting.

The Lake County Health Department/Community Health Center will offer reduced water testing rates in observance of National Ground Water Awareness Week in March. Water samples can be brought to the Lake County Central Permit Facility and Environmental Laboratory, 500 W. Winchester Road in Libertyville between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on weekdays from March 7 through 17. During this time, the normal $16 analysis fee for testing for bacteria and nitrates will be reduced to $10 for well owners.

“Safe drinking water is something that many take for granted, but every year instances of contaminated drinking water occur in Lake County,” said Irene Pierce, the Health Department’s Executive Director. “The Health Department encourages all users of private wells to take this time to have their drinking water tested, and to test it at least annually to see if it meets the minimum drinking water standards.” ( source )

Excellent timing! Most people don’t give a second thought to the effects runoff water can have on local drinking water supplies.

• Runoff water from heavy rains or melting snow causes aquifer levels to rise. When that happens, the aquifer has the opportunity to come in contact with previously undisturbed pockets of underground contaminants.

• Localized flooding may jeopardize the quality of well water if the well head becomes submerged and flood water seeps down into the well.

Other possible reasons for concern over well water quality exist as well, but for now we believe those two ought to make well owners curious enough to find out if the Health Department in their own community has made discounted, free, or reduced well testing available.

Testing our own well water?

We’ve said it once, we’ve said it a hundred times: It’s your water, your health… and ultimately your LIFE!

Plenty of do-it-yourself well water test kits exist and you can find a few examples of well water test kits here.

Blue baby syndrome can also be caused by Methemoglobinemia. It is believed to be caused by high nitrate contamination in ground water resulting in decreased oxygen carrying capacity of hemoglobin in babies leading to death. The groundwater is thought to be contaminated by leaching of nitrate generated from fertilizer used in agricultural lands and waste dumps [4]. It may also be related to some pesticides (DDT, PCBs etc), which cause ecotoxicological problems in the food chains of living organisms, increasing BOD, which kills aquatic animals. ( source )

So… elevated nitrate levels in drinking water can lead to ‘methemoglobinemia’, but what does that word MEAN?

The disorder methemoglobinemia typically means the blood contains elevated levels of methemoglobin (metHb), a form of hemoglobin that really and truly likes to attach itself to oxygen molecules — and if present in too great a quantity it will latch onto enough oxygen molecules to cause living tissue to die as a result of oxygen-deprivation.

Where does the ‘blue’ part of blue baby syndrome come from?

Without proper oxygenation of red blood cells a condition known as cyanosis occurs. Note: The term has nothing to do with cyanide, though cyanide poisoning can definitely result in skin turning a shade of blue due to oxygen deprivation.

But, since the topic of cyanide has come up, if you believe you may have someone out to get you, or perhaps you live close to industrial facilities that may make use of cyanide in their processes, maybe you should consider testing your water for cyanide. The Cyanide Emergency Test Kit provides presence/absence test results if it detects cyanide levels between 2.0 ppm and 1,700 ppm.

Getting back to the topic of nitrates, though, health officials and water quality professionals agree that owners of wells should, at the very least, periodically test their well water for the presence of nitrates & nitrites, coliform bacteria, lead, copper, total iron, total hardness, pH, and heavy metals.

Moral of the story?

In the end, if you have a private well, the responsibility for making sure the quality of the water coming out of that well falls squarely on… your shoulders. Therefore, test your well water at least once a year. It’s your well, your water, and ultimately your LIFE.

In our experience, four basic groups of people ought to consider installing a nitrate filter on their drinking water line and/or main water line, though other folks may have reason to as well:

   * Anyone who has well water and lives in an area where regional flooding takes place on a regular or semi-regular basis. Nitrates occur naturally in the environment and if a well head gets covered by flood water, any crack or fissure in the well covering could allow nitrates, bacteria and other potentially harmful contaminants to infiltrate the well.

   * Anyone who has well water and lives in an area close to certain types of manufacturing facilities — most notably fertilizer factories. Sometimes runoff containing nitrates from facilities infiltrate local water supplies… by accident, of course.

   * Anyone who has well water and lives in or close to areas engaged in agriculture (farming). Many of the fertilizers used by even the smallest of farms contain nitrates and often times those nitrates will get washed away by rain water and make their way into aquifers. Additionally, farms that raise animals may not always dispose of nitrate-rich animal waste and just as in the case of nitrates from fertilizers, the nitrates from animal waste often find their way into aquifers.

First Line of Defense

Without testing, one will never know if their water contains potentially harmful contaminants. Therefore, a homeowner’s first line of defense against drinking water contamination is and always will be testing their drinking water.

For nitrate and nitrate in drinking water testing, SenSafe manufactures an easy-to-use test strip that measures both nitrate and nitrate concentrations in water at the same time and yields results in about one minute.

Should you rely solely upon a test strip to tell you whether or not your water contains potentially harmful contaminants? Not at all. Certified testing labs such as National Testing Laboratories specialize in analyzing drinking water for contaminants and follow strict government approved and/or recommended protocols when performing any testing.

Potentially harmful drinking water contaminants such as nitrates, nitrites and certain types of bacteria enter the water and may eventually find their way into aquifers tapped for drinking water.

For that reason, along with a host of others, the staff at Water Testing Blog encourage all owners of private wells in agricultural regions to test their wells for nitrates, nitrites and bacteria not just in the Spring, but several times throughout the year.

For the task of testing well water, WaterSafe makes a handy Well Water Test Kit that tests for the following parameters: bacteria, lead, copper, iron, pesticides, nitrates, chlorine, pH, and water hardness.

Bacteria – strains of E.coli can cause serious illness or even death.

Lead – causes developmental harm, neurological and kidney damage.

Copper – causes liver and kidney damage in infants.

Iron – causes staining in laundry, dishes, bathtubs and sinks. Clogs pipes and gives off offensive odor.

Pesticides – from agricultural uses, linked to increased cancer rates.

Nitrates – from fertilizers and animal waste, causes developmental problems.

Chlorine – can increase cancer risk, gives water bad taste and smell.

pH level – can cause heavy metal (lead) leaching and plumbing damage.

Water Hardness – causes lime scale and higher detergent use.

Or, if you prefer to test for parameters individually w/o having to buy parameters you do not wish to test for, the following links ought to come in handy.

Free Chlorine Water Test	Bacteria Check Test Kit	Mercury Check Water Test Kit
Water Quality Test Kit	Total Hardness Test Kit	Water Metals Test Kit
Well Drillers Master Test Kit	Manganese Check Water Test Kit	Well Drillers Standard Test Kit

A final word… or more accurately a sentence

If you have serious reason to suspect your well water has become contaminated, get your water tested by a certified water testing lab such as National Testing Labs

This time our quest for reasons to test well water took us to Union Township in New Jersey where the town’s Environmental Commission and the South Branch Watershed Association have teamed up to promote the testing of local well water by well owners.

On Wednesday April 14, 2010, Union Township residents will have a chance to get their well water tested by a certified water lab for various forms of bacteria and nitrates for a discounted rate of $50.

Test kits must be purchased in advance from March 29 until April 13 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the township Municipal Building, Perryville Road. No cash will be accepted — checks only, please. Kits must be delivered back to the Municipal Building with your sample on April 14 between 7 and 10 a.m. Additional information about the tests and the procedures is available in the Township Clerk’s office there, or call the South Branch Watershed Association at 908-782-0422 ext 10.

“Most people in our watershed rely on private wells for their drinking water and other household needs,” said Bill Kibler, executive director of the Watershed Association. Wells, which draw water out of underground aquifers, may be susceptible to contamination that seeps in from the surface of the ground or that has infiltrated the aquifer itself. The proximity of a well to a septic system, or an area where animal waste is allowed to accumulate, increases the chances that the water may become contaminated. Shallow wells with little or no casing may be more susceptible to contamination than deeper cased wells.

“There is no water utility company or public agency that is responsible for testing well water,” says Kibler. “Private well owners are essentially on their own when it comes to monitoring their wells for contamination. Because of this, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends that homeowners have their well water tested annually. The South Branch Watershed Association is here to help people test and protect their drinking water.”

The association is able to offer the testing at a reduced cost through an agreement it has with a state-certified testing laboratory.

Additional information about the association and its other programs is available at its web site at www.sbwa.org. ( source )

For those just tuning in, if you own a well and you DON’T get it tested periodically for things like coliform bacteria, nitrates, arsenic, heavy metals and pesticides, you really ought to consider changing your ways!

Why bother testing well water after the well passes its initial water quality tests? Simple: As demand on the aquifer from which your well draws its water changes, when weather patterns shift, and/or when some jerk with a load of industrial garbage dumps it near a waterway (or runoff stream) that feeds the aquifer… the quality of water in the aquifer can suddenly change.

Bacteria, toxins and poisonous metals could care less where they end up and if fate, gravity or negligence guide them towards your water supply, no one will watch for them if you don’t. In other words, the EPA won’t stop by one Saturday morning to see if you have safe drinking water.

So please test your well water on a regular basis. Local authorities would not offer discounted (or sometimes free) well water testing if they didn’t know for sure that water from a well can sometimes become contaminated by something as simple and natural as Spring weather melting snow and creating runoff 200 or more miles away from the location of the well.

One More Thing…

At-home Drinking Water Test Kits serve as excellent screening tools but only drinking water quality testing performed by a certified drinking water testing lab such as National Testing Laboratories can give the final word as to whether or not you have safe water coming out of your well.

Local officials in Upstate New York know all too well the potential dangers presented by Springtime runoff and have issued a statement to residents not currently connected to a city (municipal) water system: We Suggest You Test Your Well Water.

They have also taken steps to make free coliform bacteria and nitrate testing to available.

BATAVIA — In the wake of well water contamination reports in the town of Batavia north of the city, the town is encouraging any property owners in the town who do not have public water to contact the Genesee County Health Department and request a one-time sampling of their well, the town said in a news release.

It is the town’s experience that wells within its boundaries are highly susceptible to contamination during the spring thaw, news release said. The town is working with the county Health Department to determine the extent of well contamination and “considers this an extremely serious issue that demands immediate action,” said the release that is also posted on the town’s Web site..

The Health Department has notified the town of water well contamination in the area of State Street Road, Batavia-Elba Townline Road, Route 98 and Bank Street Road, the release said. But the sampling recommendation is for the entire town.

The Health Department will collect a sample and plot the location of the well with a Global Positioning System survey device, the release said.

Property owners may request a test for coliform bacteria and nitrates. The samplings will be funded by the town and results of the tests will be available at the Town Hall, it said. Any property owners interested in public water are encouraged to notify the town in writing, either with an informal petition, by individual letter, or e-mail. In areas of concentrated interest, the town will begin the process of seeking grant funding to extend public water to those areas, the release said.

People who suspect well contamination can refer to information from the Health Department that can be found on the town’s Web site, www.townofbatavia. com, at the Town Hall or at the Health Department, it said.

Those with questions or seeking further information can contact town Engineer Steve Mountain at (585) 343-1729, Ext. 220. The county Health Department can be reached at (585) 344-2580. ( source )

It makes us very happy to see local officials not only taking an interest in the quality of the water in their community, but also taking pro-active steps to help residents learn about possible issues that could affect well water in the community and providing free tools to test for possible well water contamination.

Water Testing Blog hopes more communities will follow in the footsteps of Batavia, NY when it comes to keeping citizens apprised of possible threats to their water supply and making testing available when threats may exist.