How Often You Should Test Your Well Water

How often should you test your well water? Many experts suggest once a year. You should test your well water even more often if you suspect contamination.

While working as a water well repairman I came across some horror stories of well contamination. Water wells are just holes in the ground. What seeps into that hole is sucked up by a pump and directed though pipes to your kitchen sink and bath. It is up to both mother nature and man what seep into that hole in the ground but most of the contaminants that will kill you come from humans.

Most states have rigid laws about how far a septic field can be from a water well but those rules are often broken and even if the spacing is legal, channels can form in rock and soil that connect two things that should never be connected, your sewer system and your drinking water well. Septic systems are the number one reason you should test your well water.

Old well casing is usually made of steel pipe and it rusts. When cracks occur above the area that is perforated with holes for water to flow into, cross contamination is possible.

One case I came across was of a home that was built where an old gas station had been ten years earlier. Although the station was gone, and even the tanks removed, the gas that had been seeping into the sandstone from up above finally made it down to the water table some ten years later and contaminated every well within a mile. All the homes had to be put on a city water system, paid for by the owners since there was nobody around to sue for damage to their water wells. Gasoline from that time contained lead.

There could be any number of contaminants in your clear looking, odor free well water. It does not take a large number of fecal bacteria to make you sick. Likewise, pesticides can be odor free and benzine can cause cancer and other illness in very tiny quantities. Benzine was also added to gas and diesel.

The best thing a homeowner can do if you have a water well is to have it tested at least once a year. Just because it tests good one year does not mean it is good forever. Pollutants travel underground, sometimes at speeds you would not believe depending on the streams of underground water.Well water testing kits can identify dozens of kinds of harmful chemicals and bacteria.

Your health authority may offer free or reduced cost testing. For confidential water quality screening you may want to consider a mail in test. Mail in water quality tests such as the comprehensive Watersafe well water test kit are available from Amazon.com at the link below.

You should test your well water at least once a year to ensure the health of your family.