Since moving to the country, my family has been adjusting to life with septic and well water. It hasn’t been easy.
One issue that homeowners face with well water is the need to treat it. Unlike city water, which is supposed to be tested regularly, professionals don’t test the safety of well water – unless the homeowner schedules and pays for the testing.
According to the EPA, well water should be professionally tested once a year to monitor pH levels, coliform bacteria, nitrates, and total dissolved solids. (State-certified laboratories should be used.)
When to test
Depending on where you live, well water could have a variety of problems. Some are minor – amd others create health concerns. Here’s a quick checklist of what you should test:
- Do you have recurring gastro-intestinal illnesses? Test for coliform bacteria.
- Does your water taste or smell funny? Test for corrosion, hydrogen sulfide, and metals.
- Does your household plumbing contain lead? Test for copper, lead, and pH.
- Are your pipes corroding? Test for corrosion, lead, and pH.
- Does your water treatment equipment wear out quickly? Test for corrosion and pH.
- Does your laundry get stained? Test for copper, iron, and manganese.
- Is your water cloudy, colored, or frothy? Test for color and detergents.
- Does your water taste salty? Do you live close to saltwater? Are nearby roadways heavily salted? Test for chloride, sodium, and total dissolved solids.
- Do your soaps lather? Do soaps leave scaly residues? Test for hardness.
- Do you need to use a water softener to treat hard water? Test for iron and manganese.
- Is your region known for high radon levels? Test for radon.
- Do you live close to an agricultural area? Test for coliform bacteria, nitrates, and pesticides.
- Do you live close to coal mines? Test for pH, corrosion, and metals.
- Do you live close to a gas drilling operation? Test for barium, chloride, sodium, and strontium.
- Do you live close to a dump, junkyard, or landfill? How about a factory, gas station, or dry cleaner? Test for chloride, metals, pH, sulfates, total dissolved solids, volatile organic compounds.
- Do you live near a gas station or buried fuel tanks? Test for volatile organic compounds.
Pollution protection
While a licensed contractor should help you find the right spot for your water well, there are a few easy ways you can prevent your well water from getting polluted:
- Make sure rainwater flows away from your well. Health problems may be caused if bacteria and chemicals in rainwater seep into your water well.
- Do not store or dispose of fertilizers, pesticides, lawn care chemicals, or household chemicals close to your water well. Animal and human waste should not be close to your water well.
As a homeowner, carefully think about what is located close to your home. In particular, beware if your home is located near any of these facilities:
- Airports
- Animal burial areas
- Animal feedlots
- Asphalt plants
- Automobile repair shop
- Boatyards
- Car washes
- Cemeteries
- Construction areas
- Drainage fields
- Dry cleaners
- Electroplaters
- Fertilizer storage
- Foundries
- Gas stations
- Golf courses
- Hospitals
- Incinerators
- Irrigation sites
- Junkyards
- Landfills
- Laundromats
- Livestock yards
- Machine shops
- Manufacturing plants
- Manure spreading areas, stacks, and storage
- Metal plating
- Mines
- Paint shops
- Pesticide storage
- Petroleum production and tanks
- Pipelines
- Railroad tracks
- Recycling facilities
- Research laboratories
- Road maintenance departments
- Septic leach fields
- Septic tanks
- Silos
- Storage tanks
- Toxic spills
- Waste water process plants.
Talk back
Do you have well water? Did you have any idea you needed to watch for so many potential hazards?
Photo credit
winnond/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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Hilary Kimes Bernstein is a Christ follower, wife, mama, and journalist. She writes about making healthy decisions that honor God and happen to help the environment at Accidentally Green. Short and sweet - like her writing - Hilary is the author of several healthy living eBooks.
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Thank you for this great list! We had ours tested about 9 years ago, but it’s probably time we do it again!