Fracking and Well Water: Who Do We Believe?

Miner DrillingHere’s an article that professes to lay out the case that the EPA was coerced by the Obama Administration during the 2012 election to basically deny there was a link between hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and groundwater contamination. This supposedly happened in an area of Pennsylvania. If true, it’s really a sad state of affairs.  We depend on the EPA to take its role seriously without political or other outside influences.

For me, it’s another indication that we individually need to take matters into our own hands.  This is especially true if we get our water from a well on our property. There are no government requirements for testing our well water for contaminants. If you live in an area where fracking is taking place, you could be subject to contamination because of the chemicals from the fracking operation  finding its way into your well water. If you live downhill from the drilling operation, I’d suggest you be especially vigilant.

So, what should you do to protect you and your family. Our recommendation is that you have your well water tested by a professional lab that follows EPA testing methods. The sooner you do before or after the fracking begins the better. That’s because it gives you a baseline that you can use to compare future tests against. We’d suggest you test on at least an annual basis. If you begin to see changes in the level of some contaminants, you can then take action to reduce or eliminate the level of those specific contaminants.

You might even take your reports to your local health department. In all honesty, they should be proactively testing well water in fracking areas, but that’s not the norm.

Click here to read the article about the EPA action that got me to write this post.

If you’re looking for more guidance about how to protect you and your family by having your well water tested, click here.

 

 

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.

water splash abstract 295x200

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.

Welcome to our Drinking Water Blog!

We have launched our new business and web site, Drinking Water Specialists, LLC. It’s been a longer process than we thought it would be, but we are finally here.

Our goal it help all people who are concerned about the quality of their drinking water have a resource they can go to for straight  and honest answers and advice. The only agenda we are pushing is for our visitors to take control of managing the quality of their drinking water, whether they have a well as the source for their water, or they are on  municipal water.

We hope you are one of these concerned homeowners.

We encourage our visitors to leave comments as well as ask questions that not only can help them, but can also help others.

We will mix up the posts to include our own thoughts and rants as well as point you to articles and other external resources we think can help you.

Here’s to healthy drinking water!