Water Quality - Testing
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TESTING
If contacting a certified laboratory is not an option
you can administer a home water test yourself to test
your drinking water.
Numerous water quality testing kits are available, but they range in price starting around $15 and going up from there (See “Resources” for more information).
The most common and serious health concerns you may want to test for are:
Nitrates
- Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) in parts per million (ppm) = 10 ppm
- Health Affects: can cause serious illness and death, infants are especially susceptible can cause methemoglobinemia or “blue baby” syndrome.
- Sources of Contamination: overuse of fertilizer close to the well, presence of septic effluent in the groundwater supplies caused by a failed or failing septic system or inadequate dilution or separation between the system and the well, runoff containing animal wastes close to the well.
- Treatment: Because nitrate can not be easily removed by filtration the best treatment option is to control nearby sources of nitrate i.e. fertilizer and animal wastes close to the well.
Bacteria
- Coliform bacteria: presence in drinking water is usually a result of a problem with the treatment system or the pipes which distribute water.
- Fecal Coliform and E coli: presence indicates the water may be contaminated with human or animal wastes.
- Turbidity: indicates the presence of disease causing organisms, no health effects.
- Cryptosporidium: parasite that enters lakes and rivers through sewage and animal waste.
- Giardia lamblia: parasite that enters lakes and rivers through sewage and animal waste
- Treatment:
- Chlorine: disinfects water 8-10 drops per gallon
- Boiling: disinfects boil 3-5 minutes
- Filtration: used alone can not be considered completely affective.
Arsenic
- Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) in parts per million (ppm) = 0.010 ppm
- Health Affects: Skin damage or problems with circulatory systems, and increased risk of cancer.
- Sources of contamination: erosion of natural deposits, runoff from orchards, runoff from glass and electronic production wastes
- Treatment: Various options for arsenic treatment through available technologies, dependent on amount of water to be treated, amount of arsenic present, and amount of other contaminants present. EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline: 1-800-426-4791
Other water problems that are undesirable but not dangerous according to EPA standards that you may want to check for are:
Iron
- Acceptable Levels = 0.3 ppm
- Affects: there are no health affects but iron does affect the appearance and taste of the drinking water. It can also cause stain clothing and fixtures, and promote the growth of iron bacteria in the water system.
- Source of Contamination: comes from the parent material of the soil around the well.
- Treatment: Water softener or iron filter
Manganese
- Acceptable Levels = .05 ppm
- Affects: there are no health affects but manganese does affect the appearance and taste of drinking water, can produce black staining.
- Source of contamination: originates from the soil around the well
- Treatment: water softener or filter
Hardness
- Acceptable Levels = there are no health standards
- Affects: Hard water tends to deposit calcium carbonate scale in plumbing systems. Soft water tends to be corrosive, dissolving metal pipes and fittings.
- Source of Contamination: comes from elevated levels of calcium, magnesium and other substances found in the soil around the well.
- Treatment: water softeners
Hydrogen Sulfide
- Acceptable Levels = there are no health standards
- Affects: gives water a “rotten egg” taste and odor, noticeable more in hot water.
- Source of contamination: is present in groundwater containing sulfur under anaerobic (no oxygen) conditions. It is also the product of a bacterial reaction in the presence of sulfate.
- Treatment: a small amount of chlorine can be added to water to remove hydrogen sulfide, then a sand or aggregate filter can be used to remove the yellow particles that remain.
If you’re looking for a full list of contaminants there is one available on the EPA website: www.epa.gov/ogwdw/swap/sources1.html
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