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 (see what they test for) 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:

Water Quality Test Kit

COMPLETE Water Quality Test Kit

4-in-1 City Water Check

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

The standards for safe drinking water are hundreds of times tighter than those for safe swimming water. Typically, limits for safe swimming allow for a maximum of 100 to 500 cells in 100 mL of water, depending on jurisdiction. For water to be considered safe for drinking, there cannot be even one cell in 100 mL – a little less than half a cup of water. (source)

What sort of nasty biological contaminants may lurk at the local swimming hole? Quite a few, actually. Just to name a few, you could possibly encounter Pseudomonas, Aeromonas, E.coli, species of Salmonella, Shigella, Enterobacter, Klebsiella and many other Coliform and non-Coliform bacteria.

While we would all prefer exposure to NONE of the critters on that list, or ones not on that list, eventual exposure to one or more will certainly happen at some point or other. You do NOT have to put yourself in harm’s way unnecessarily, though, since WaterSafe Brand manufactures and distributes a product it calls the Pool and Spa Bacteria Test.

With easy-to-follow directions and a total test time of less than 20 minutes, the Pool and Spa Bacteria Test works quite well as an on-the-spot test kit for excessive levels of potentially harmful bacteria in your favorite pool, spa, or swimming hole.

We think you have excellent taste water test kits, Ramprakash, because the Well Driller Master Test Kit puts the power to perform multiple samplings on water sources right where it belongs: In the hands of private well owners.

The Well Driller Master Test Kit comes with 50 Free Chlorine Test Strips, 50 Ultra Low Total Chlorine Test Strips, 50 Hydrogen Sulfide Tests, 50 Total Hardness Test Strips, 50 Nitrate/Nitrite Test Strips, 50 pH Test Strips, 24 Manganese Tests, 50 Water Metals Test Strips, 10 Arsenic Tests, 50 Iron Tests, 50 Copper Test Strips, 2 Lead in Water Tests, 2 Pesticide Tests, and 1 bottle of Bacteria Test.

Where to buy the Well Driller Master Test Kit?

At this time we know that FilterWater.Com carries both the Well Driller Standard Test Kit and the Well Driller Test Kit.

The Standard kit has a few less tests and costs around $140 while the Master kit has a cost of around $195.

Regardless of which option you choose, we suggest picking up extra Coliform Bacteria Tests since both kits come with only one test for bacteria. FilterWater.Com sells a pack of 12 coliform bacteria tests for around $80.

WaterSafe Science Project Test Kit

• Lead – individual test
• Bacteria – individual test
• Pesticides – individual test
• Nitrates – individual test
• Nitrites – individual test
• Chlorine – individual test
• Hardness – individual test
• pH – individual test

Students can test various sources of water and compare the results or they can test the same water at various times to check for variances in its quality. Whichever way students decide, they will find the WaterSafe Science Project Kit very easy and safe to use.

Huh? What? A river of BLOOD? Has somebody taken their love of Twilight or any of the other vampire-themed shows a little too far as a prank?

Unfortunately not. We found this article posted on Yahoo News last night and as ridiculous as it sounds, it also appears quite real from the photograph and later statements made by a spokesperson for the Texas Environmental Crimes Task Force.

What danger does this pose?

Honestly, we lack the proper background to go into this one fully, but we do know that discharging that much untreated biological matter will throw the ecosystem in the Trinity River off in ways that would make ecologists stutter, sweat profusely, and probably possibly go into shock.

That stream appears to contain 100′s of gallons of untreated nitrates, nitrites, proteins, decaying organic matter, bacteria, and microscopic parasites — all capable of disrupting the Trinity River’s ecological balance and eventually making their way into public and private water supplies.

Public water systems using wells

Pretty much all public water systems that pull ground water from wells test and treat the water for contaminants before distribution but in extreme situations even they can get overwhelmed if they receive massive, unexpected levels of biological contaminants in source water. While workers will make the necessary adjustments to chemical feeders and filters to counteract the influx of filth, making those changes may take time and some contaminated water may find its way into the water supply.

Owners of private wells

Most do not use any sort of disinfection system on their wells so events like this put them at great risk. Really not a whole lot more to say except… Only regular testing of your well water can warn you of contamination!

Think about this, private well owners: How long had material flowed out of that ‘secondary pipe’ before a random flyover by a hobbyist’s drone (unmanned aircraft) captured a picture?

Moral of the story?

We believe one of two things happened at that meatpacking facility: 1) Not everyone played by the rules set forth by local officials and the facility broke the rules intentionally; 2) Unexpected events such as equipment malfunctioning or human error caused the slaughter waste to go down the wrong pipe. In either case this bloody mess may not have gotten noticed for quite some time and in that time countless people may have gotten sick from drinking contaminated water.

Periodic testing of well and ground water can help keep you safe from accidents like this one and many others that may take place without you knowing.

as we always like to say, “It’s your water, your health… and ultimately your LIFE!”

Crystal Quest Countertop Water Filter for Bacteria (Cleanable & Replaceable)

Crystal Quest Under Sink Water Filter for Bacteria (Cleanable & Replaceable)

]]> http://test-for.com/blog/2012/01/river-of-blood-flowing-into-the-trinity-river/feed/ 0 http://test-for.com/blog/2011/12/do-water-coolers-contain-clean-water/ http://test-for.com/blog/2011/12/do-water-coolers-contain-clean-water/#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 22:26:05 +0000 Water Testing Blog http://watertestingblog.com/?p=4959 One would THINK that water coolers absolutely and always contain safe, clean drinking water… but they may not depending upon the frequency of bottle changes and routine maintenance. Safe bet that if you look at the catch tray beneath the spigots (faucet-looking things) and see something fuzzy growing in it, no one has cleaned the insides of the water cooler recently, either.

Water in the replacement bottles (ought to) contain no disinfecting compounds such as chlorine to keep bacteria from multiplying so once the seal on the bottle gets broken, bacteria have a chance to enter the water supply, hang out, party like rock stars, and breed. Gross!

Ways to make water cooler water safer?

At this point we know of two ways to stop unwanted water cooler bacteria from ‘doing the nasty’ and getting away with it: UV Water Sterilizers and Ozone Generators.

UV Water Sterilizers more or less render bacteria unable to reproduce by exposing any bacteria passing through a water filter system to a specific wavelength of ultraviolet light. This method of water treatment normally leaves no chemical aftertaste or unpleasant odor — unless your water contained those things beforehand.

Ozone Generators generate ozone which effectively destroys organics on contact and leaves no unwanted chemical residue or bad tastes in the water. Again, water with bad odor or tastes previously will continue to have those problems.

Both of the above methods work best in systems that use other water treatment methods (i.e. reverse osmosis, carbon block filtration, ultrafiltration, etc.) to make drinking water safe for consumption. They provide a last line of defense again unwanted contaminants that could grow in holding tanks of water coolers or reverse osmosis units post-filtration since the filtering methods removed any anti-bacterial compounds and drinking water disinfectants.

UV Water Sterilizer for Water Coolers	Ozone Generator for Water Coolers
Note: Professional Installation of Either Device Highly Suggested… (Both items currently available as options for water coolers at FilterWater.Com)

]]> http://test-for.com/blog/2011/12/do-water-coolers-contain-clean-water/feed/ 0 http://test-for.com/blog/2011/11/concerned-about-bacteria-in-restaurant-setting/ http://test-for.com/blog/2011/11/concerned-about-bacteria-in-restaurant-setting/#comments Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:52:58 +0000 Water Testing Blog http://watertestingblog.com/?p=4912 Web sites have flaunted the results of studies about bacteria on and around the ice machines and soda fountains in the food service industry (especially the self-service ones. Yuck!) but today’s email inquiry comes to us from ‘Jacky’ who said,

“My friends and I own a small eatery with a bed-n-breakfast in the mountains and we have water from the town. Every once in a while the news tells us to boil until further notice. The last time it happpened a customer asked how long they could have been drinking bacteria water before the news told us to boil the water. I said we don’t know and they said we should know that sort of thing before we serve people food and drink. How long COULD the water have been bad?”

From the sounds of things you had a real snot eating or staying in your place. We hope he/she at least tipped well and didn’t cause you any other grief!

Regarding the answer to the question asked, you will have to talk to the town water department and ask them for information on their bacteria testing policies and public notification policies since some municipal water systems have tighter, more stringent testing requirements than others — but none can get any looser than those set by the State & Federal Governments.

Regular testing for bacteria?

We assure you that your local water department, if it follows State and Federal Water Treatment & Testing Guidelines, performs regular testing for bacteria, testing for chlorine and tests for a host of other important water quality contaminants and water quality parameters on a regular basis.

If you want more detailed information on the steps used by your local water company to protect you from bacteria and other unwanted drinking water contaminants, we suggest that you contact your local water department directly.

As we mentioned, city and municipal water departments take specific, regulated steps to protect their customers from bacterial contamination… but even in the best of circumstances sometimes things happen which could possibly put those customers at risk.

Water main breaks between the water treatment plant and customers’ homes as well as unexpected equipment failures at the water treatment plant can both certainly happen at any time and both may result in opportunities for bacteria to enter the drinking water supply.

Personal protection against bacterial contamination?

Recently a number of folks have started installing UV water sterilizers like the Crystal Quest UV 6 in their homes as a final layer of protection against bacterial contamination. These devices render bacteria unable to reproduce by exposing the unwanted critters to a specific wavelength of UV light.

So, while the devices do not necessarily kill the bacteria right away, UV water sterilizers like the Crystal Quest UV 6, when used in the right application, make certain the organisms do not have a chance to multiply and create problems for those who ingest them.

Please note, however, that UV water sterilizers should NOT get used as the first line of defense against bacteria when dealing with untreated and/or unfiltered water.

Why? Because UV water sterilizers can do nothing to remove unwanted particles, solids and/or chemical contaminants. To remove things of that nature one should consider a unit that uses activated carbon, reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration, etc.

WaterFilters.Net carries a large selection of water filter systems and replacement water filters for use in private residences as well as a wide range of commercial applications.

While on the topic of commercial water filters…

Jacky had concerns about water quality in a commercial setting so it only makes sense that we end this article by mentioning the CQE-UV-00105, a commercial UV water sterilizer with a flow rate greater than 22 GPM.

Crystal Quest CQE-UV-00105

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.

Test for Nitrates/Nitrites

Test for Pesticides

Test for High Levels of Mercury

Test for Lower Mercury Levels

Broad Spectrum Test for Metals

Lead in water Test Kit

Test for Arsenic in Water

Test for Iron in Water

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.

Well Driller Standard Tests for 10 Water Quality Parameters on as Many as 50 Samples

Well Driller Master Tests for 14 Water Quality Parameters on as Many as 50 Samples

]]> http://test-for.com/blog/2011/11/water-testing-kits-for-use-in-local-testing/feed/ 0 http://test-for.com/blog/2011/11/well-water-question-from-reidsville-nc/ http://test-for.com/blog/2011/11/well-water-question-from-reidsville-nc/#comments Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:03:34 +0000 Water Testing Blog http://watertestingblog.com/?p=4895 We recently received an email from ‘Janelle’ in North Carolina who wrote,

“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.

Today’s question about well water testing and possible well water contamination by hydraulic fracturing came to us from a woman named ‘Terri’ in Pennsylvania who asked…

why is the cost so high to test water for fracking contamination? after the recent flooding it only cost $25.00 to see if the well water was safe to drink. is it best to have a local company test the water or should we send it to Penn State or out of state? how often after the drilling starts do you recommend water to be tested?

Thank you for this question, Terri, and we bet other folks facing the unwanted financial burden of paying for more ground/well water testing than the average homeowner with a well have wondered the exact same thing.

Well Water Testing (2 or 3 parameters)…

In our experience, well water testing that costs roughly $20 to $30 usually includes the following tests: Nitrates/Nitrites and Coliform Bacteria.

Some kits and marketed laboratory testing packages may include other tests, but not much more and definitely not nearly the number of tests included in the laboratory testing packages typically used to analyze water that may contain contamination resulting from hydraulic fracturing.

Testing for Fracking Fluid (potentially 100′s of parameters)…

From the very beginning companies that used hydraulic fracturing as a means of extracting natural gas from rock and shale formations deep in the Earth have kept the list of ingredients in their fracking fluids out of the public eye.

However, according to information posted on Wikipedia (10/28/11)…

“Chemical additives used in fracturing fluids typically make up less than 1% by weight of the total fluid. They are biocides, surfactants, adjusting viscosity, and emulsifiers. Many are used in household products such as cosmetics, lotions, soaps, detergents, furniture polishes, floor waxes, and paints.[33] Some are also used in food products. A list of the chemicals that have been used was published in a U.S. House of Representatives Report.[34] Some of the chemicals pose no known health hazards, some of the chemicals are known carcinogens, some are toxic, and the health hazards for the rest are unknown. The report does not include the concentration of each chemical used or the amount used.

A 2011 study identified 632 chemicals used in natural gas operations. Only 353 of these are well-described in the scientific literature; and of these, more than 75% could affect skin, eyes, respiratory and gastrointestinal systems; roughly 40-50% could affect the brain and nervous, immune and cardiovascular systems and the kidneys; 37% could affect the endocrine system; and 25% were carcinogens or mutagens. The study indicated possible long-term health effects that might not appear immediately. The study recommended full disclosure of all products used, along with extensive air and water monitoring near natural gas operations; it also recommended that fracking’s exemption from regulation under the US Safe Drinking Water Act be rescinded.[35]“

So as you can clearly see, the potential for harm befalling a person exposed to fracking chemicals could certainly clearly exist — even if it may take a while to happen through prolonged exposure to fracking chemicals in the air and/or in their drinking water.

With the number of chemicals and ‘other things’ possibly present in fracking fluid, and the mystery surrounding many of those additives true identities, responsible testing laboratories must use a shotgun approach when analyzing samples for the fracking fluid… because they have no solid idea of what exactly to look for.

The Best way to Test for Fracking Fluid?

Terri mentioned Penn State in her inquiry and at this point we feel the scientists at Penn State may very well have the best idea of what has transpired in that region due to their close proximity and the amount of time and resources that institution has dedicated to tracking the activities of gas drilling companies in the area.

Moral of the Story?

If companies intend to begin hydraulic fracturing in your area then you really ought to have the quality of your water tested before, during and after drilling.

If companies have already started drilling and you have not, yet, had a qualified water testing lab analyze your water, you really ought to have that testing done right away.