What Well Owners Living in Flooded Areas Need to Know

A county in Georgia issues a warning to well owners following a flood. Read about it here.  ajk-1736

Well owners whose property gets flooded should sanitize their well as a preventative measure. If they want, they can first have their water tested for the presence of pathogenic bacteria, but it’s highly advisable to chlorinate the well in any event

Why?

The well cover itself may have been breached allowing contaminants to enter their well. If they have a septic system on their property it’s possible that pathogenic bacteria has risen to the surface and entered the well housing. Once inside the well, these bacteria will find a host to grow on.

If you are going to have your water tested. at a minimum, test for the presence of pathogenic bacteria. It’s also a good idea to have a lab perform a more comprehensive test even if you have had one recently done because the flood waters may have introduced contaminants that were not previously reported.

Learn more about sanitizing a well from a noted water testing lab director by viewing this free video.

 

Water, Water Everywhere…but

We’ve been saying for a long time that well owners living near areas where their well water may be getting contaminated by ‘outside’ influences need to take matters into their own hands. In areas like those where hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as ‘fracking’, is used for natural gas exploration, homeowners need have a way to see if their water is being affected over time. textures-rivers-and-streams-300x200

In an article about Montauk Long Island, the local residents get that. They are setting up water testing facilities to monitor the swimming water in their area. As they say,  the testing “Results reflect conditions at a moment in time. The real value of testing is in mapping the trends.” Here’s a link to the article.

We say to those well owner who live in areas where they are concerned about the condition of their drinking water deteriorating over time because of things going on around them…

you need to start a water testing regimen now. Have your well water tested to create a baseline using a comprehensive water test from a professional lab. Then test your water on an annual basis, or more frequently if warranted. If you see a rise in the level of any of the parameters. you then take action. You can treat your well water to overcome the issue(s) and notify your local or state health authorities about your findings.

Having good information is the only way to know if you are in a trouble-zone or not. You cannot depend on anyone else doing this for you.

Read more about water testing, especially Essential Indicators water testing, and how it helps you get the right information in a very cost-effect way. Just click here.

Lee County Florida Warns Well Owners About Illnesses

Well owners in Lee County Florida have been encouraged by the Florida Department of Health to have their wells checked by a professional lab because they have found an increase in the levels of germs  in well water.

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Many well owners are complaining about the taste, color and smell of their well water. Their children are getting sick as well. The former problems are most likely due to what’s called ‘slime-forming bacteria’. The latter involving children getting sick could be caused by pathogenic bacteria.

You can read about this warning about Lee County Florida wells here.

We see these symptoms all the time. It’s why we developed a comprehensive water test for well owners where these bacterial contaminants are among the over 100 contaminants we test for.

And, if there is a bacteria problem, we put together a Well Water Wellness Kit that the homeowner can use to sanitize their well and end up with bacteria-free drinking water at a cost that’s a lot cheaper then hiring a so-called expert to do a less-than-adequate job.

We’ve put together a free video on the why and how behind chlorinating your well. Just go to this link

Private Well Owners | Drinking Water in New England | US EPA

The EPA recently put out a special notice targeted at well owners in New England. It urged them to have their water tested now because there may be problems with the quality of their water.

In the notice, whose link is below, they recommend that well owners get their water tested specifically for methyl-tertiary-butyl ether (MtBE), radon and arsenic. We also believe you should be testing for other potential contaminants including bacteria, essential metals, heavy metals, inorganic chemicals, and volatile organic compounds (VOC).

We agree with this because neither the state nor the federal government control the quality of well water. It’s up to the homeowner to have their water tested and treat any problems themselves.

In addition to testing their water, well owners should also be sanitizing their wells on a periodic basis to keep bacteria levels below levels where they can either be harmful or can clog filters and give off foul odors.

You can learn more about both the testing and the sanitizing at www.drinkingwaterspecialists.com.

Here’s the link to the EPA notice for New England well owners:

Private Well Owners | Drinking Water in New England | US EPA.