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| Keeping your water 'well' (Fall 2006) |
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Here's how to keep water from a private well safe and tasty
By Larry Reichenberger
A tall glass of clear, cold water is one of life’s simplest pleasures. So simple, in fact, that the quality of that water is sometimes taken for granted. This is especially true for rural residents - most who rely on private wells - where they are solely responsible for the quality of the water that their family consumes.
“The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates public water systems and those supplies are tested regularly for more than 80 contaminants, but private wells are the responsibility of the well user,” says Morgan Powell, water quality specialist at Kansas State University. “The quality of water from those private wells is vital to family health and safety.”
A recent EPA study estimated that 53 million U.S. residents - 19% of the population - utilize private water wells. Powell says he and other water quality experts are finding that the quality of water from those wells often comes up short. “If we use the EPA standards for public water supplies as a guide, then 60% of the private wells we test are contaminated, and about one in five poses an immediate health threat for well users,” says Powell. A hallmark study by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources echoes those findings. In a statewide investigation, 55% of private wells were found to exceed EPA safe drinking water standards for at least one contaminant.
“These findings are alarming, but what’s even more surprising is that in most of these cases well users could be doing much more to protect and improve the quality of their water supply,” Powell reports. “Most private wells can provide quality drinking water if proper well location, construction, and maintenance procedures are followed.”
Private well problems
Jolene Funk, with the Saline County Health Department, Salina, Kan., sees private well problems up close. As a registered sanitarian, she collects and analyzes water samples on request for hundreds of private well owners in a four-county area.“Contamination from bacteria and nitrates are the most common problems,” says Funk. “Bacteria indicates unsanitary conditions in or around the well and nitrate contamination comes from septic systems, fertilizers, and livestock waste. We also frequently find salt, which is a measure of the sodium and chloride in the water, and that’s a health concern for people with high blood pressure.”
In 2004, Funk and her associates sampled 171 wells. A total of 476 tests were run on these samples looking for bacteria, nitrates, and chloride, and also for fluoride, iron, lead, manganese, sulfates, and other factors. On average, 20% of wells exceeded a nitrate limit of 10 ppm, 26% were positive for coliform bacteria, 16% were positive for E. coli bacteria, and 7% were over the limit for chloride.
“When we take a sample, a visual inspection is made of each well and any potential safety problems are pointed out to the owner,” Funk says. “In 2004, we found an average of 39% of wells were not constructed to current state standards, 56% were not sealed correctly, and 48% were poorly located in relation to sources of potential contamination.”
The drawing at right shows private well construction details recommended by many states. New wells should be built to these designs and existing wells can be upgraded to meet them. The key feature is a watertight casing running from one foot above the surface to the top of the well screen. The casing is capped, sealed, and grouted into the bore hole. A pitless adapter is used for the discharge pipe and electrical conduit exits
the casing through a sanitary seal.
Safe zone
Soil should slope away from the well to drain surface runoff. Also, a “zone of exclusion” should be established around it with sources of contamination kept 100 to 200 feet away, depending on their potential threat.
Regular water testing is a vital part of maintaining a private well. Water-quality experts typically recommend sampling for bacteria and nitrate at least once a year, then every few years for pH, pesticides, and other minerals. While costs vary, testing for water suitability (analysis of more than a dozen factors) typically runs about $100.
A recent study of private well owners in Canada indicates most aren’t following the suggested water-testing schedule. “While 80% of the users we surveyed were concerned about their water quality, only 8% were submitting water samples at a frequency that meets current government guidelines,” says Andria Jones at Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Division of Community Health.
Ag Extension offices and county health departments can provide additional information on approved water-testing labs and home water-testing kits. For more information on well design and water quality, check out the Web site www.wellowner.org.
Water treatment
If well problems turned up by a water test can’t be solved, or a new water source can’t be obtained, then water treatment is an option. In the Canadian survey, 56% of private well owners used home treatment systems to remove contaminants or improve the taste and smell of their water.
Treatment methods include filtration, reverse osmosis, distillation, ion exchange, and disinfection (chlorination or UV light). Reverse osmosis (RO) is a popular choice - it uses a series of filters and membranes to purify water. Point-of-use RO systems, like the one above, treats only the water used for drinking and costs $500 or more installed.
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