Wisconsin Well Owners Urged to Sanitize Their Well

FLASH!!  From the online edition of the LaCrosse Tribune, http://bit.ly/1jtA7Pp

All Well Owners, not just those in Wisconsin, need to read this…

With Spring here, some areas are prone to flooding due to snow melt, rain, and the frozen ground thawing. For most of us, it mean flowers beginning to bloom and birds are singing.

But, for well owners, it could mean that your well water may no longer be safe for household use such as drinking, washing, and bathing.  

Chlorinate your well

Springtime is the best time to treat your well

That’s because all that extra water could be bringing unhealthy contaminants such as bacteria into your well  and contaminating the water.

Here’s where we agree…

That’s why the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources‘ private water section chief, Liesa Lehmann, issued the following statement, “Now is the time of year for well owners to watch for signs of flooding and to notice any change in the color, smell or taste of their drinking water.”

The article went on to urge well owners, especially those in flood-prone areas or those who notice changes in their well water, to sanitize their wells. We wholeheartedly support this recommendation.

Here’s where we disagree…

However…

The state says that, “Disinfection and sampling is best done by a licensed well driller or pump installer.

We don’t necessarily agree with this. Our experience over many years tells us that these ‘professionals’ don’t understand the science behind sanitizing a well. We have been called in many times to test the well water after it has been disinfected by an “expert” and have found high levels of pathogenic bacteria.

This led us to put together a video that gives well owners the why and how behind chlorinating a well. We urge you to view it. You can get access to it by filling out the form on the right Sign up for "Why Chlorinate Your Well" video

 To help well owners disinfect their well the right way and save hundreds of dollars, we have developed a fool-proof well chlorination kit. We call it the “Well Water Wellness Kit”.  It contains everything you need, except for a mixing bucket and stirrer, including a link to an online video that shows you the easy step-by-step process, test strips for testing the level of chlorine after treatment, bacteria tests, the chlorination medium, and written instructions.

You can learn more about the “Well Water Wellness Kit” at drinkingwaterspecialists.com/well-water-wellness-kit/

Idaho Recommends Well Owners Have Their Water Tested

I came across an article posted by Laurie Boston of the Southwest District Heath in Idaho entitled, “It’s important to test your well water” and thought it brings home the point very well.

The Governor of  Idaho, Butch Otter, has reached out to the well owners of the state to encourage them to have their well water tested on an annual basis.  To help reinforce the importance of doing this, he has proclaimed the week of March 9-15, 2014 as Ground Water Awareness Week.

Idaho residents, nearly 95%, get most of their drinking water from ground-water source. Most of these sources are from private wells.

The Director of Environmental Health Services for Southwest District Health, David Loper, has stated that “with well ownership comes the responsibility to test your well water by a state-certified lab each year and ensure all potential contaminants on your property are kept away from your drinking source. Water from private wells is not regulated by any public entity or monitored and tested.”  In addition to annual testing, he also recommends having your well water tested “whenever there is a change in taste, odor, appearance or when the system is serviced.”

We believe the same thing and it goes with our motto of “Take control and manage the quality of your drinking water.”

In this article it mentions several contaminants that you should consider testing for such as coliform bacteria, nitrates, arsenic, and fluoride among others.

For many homeowners, when they go to a local certified lab, they may find the cost to test the logical suite of contaminants that can affect the health of their family is pretty high.  Of course, while no one wants to ignore making sure their well water is safe to drink, cost may deter them from testing on an annual basis.

So, we have an idea that has worked well for many of the well owners we service.

Even though we are not certified in Idaho, our lab follows the same EPA and standard testing methods as the certified labs in the state. But, our costs are lower and we pass these savings onto our customers.

How are we able to do this?  The answer is:

  • We let you collect your own water samples and send them to us in a test kit we provide to you.
  • We have a standard set of contaminants that we test for which saves us setup time.
  • We have an automated tracking system that adds efficiency to our testing process.

So what happens if we find a problem with a customers water? The customer, if they want, can then have a local certified lab test for just the contaminant we find is high. However, most of our customers don’t do this, they just treat the water using recommendations we provide them to resolve the problem.

We don’t want well owners to ignore the annual water testing regimin suggested by the Governor because it’s vital to the health of families on well water. Our Bang-for-the-Buck Essential Indicators Water Test is  affordable and gives the well owner the information they need to maintain the safety of their well water.

You can read more by going to www.DrinkingWaterSpecialists.com

The original article can be found here.