Well Water Treatment
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), about one-half of the United States' drinking water comes from a ground water source. Most of this water is supplied through 142,000 public drinking water systems serving a total population of over 100 million people. About 15 percent of Americans have their own sources of drinking water, such as wells, cisterns, and springs. Unlike public drinking water systems, owners of private well sources do not have experts regularly checking the water's source and its quality before they drink the water. Water contamination comes from both natural sources and human activity.
What can I do...
What you can do to have clean drinking water depends upon whether you are connected to a public water systems or private water source.
If I have a private drinking water well?
Private drinking water wells are not regulated by the US EPA. Individual well owners have primary responsibility for the safety of the water drawn from their wells. They do not benefit from the government's health protections for water systems serving many families. The US EPA recommends testing your water annually for:
- Nitrates
- Coliform
- Bacteria
- pH
- Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
- Any known potential contaminants in your local area or aquifer
Since water analyses can get very expensive for contaminants other than the first four of this list, your local water expert should be able to help you limit the number of impurities to test for. Also, home well owners may be able to get help from local health departments. They may oversee the placement and construction of new wells to meet state and local regulations. Most have rules about locating drinking water wells near septic tanks, drain fields, and livestock. They may help you with yearly testing for bacteria and nitrates. But remember, the final responsibility for constructing your well correctly, protecting it from pollution, and maintaining it falls on you, the well owner.
You may want to treat your water through additional, advanced water treatment.
If I have a public drinking water well?
Employees of a public water utility must comply with federal and state regulations for frequent analysis, testing, and reporting of results. Public water systems are regulated by the US EPA for a 103, http://www.epa.gov/safewater/consumer/pdf/mcl.pdf, drinking water standards, 87 of which are called Primary Standards. These standards are legally enforceable and are designed to protect public health by limiting the levels of contaminants in drinking water. These contaminants are rarely a problem, but may still be in your water at concentrations lower than the limit. You will not be able to detect these contaminants without a water analysis.
You may want to tailor your water through additional, advanced water treatment.
The 15 Secondary Standards are non-enforceable guidelines regulating contaminants that may cause aesthetic effects, like taste, odor, or color, or cosmetic effects, like skin or tooth discoloration, or in drinking water. These are generally the water problems people are most concerned with because we detect through our senses of touch, taste, sight, and smell. Depending upon your personal sensitivity, you may be able to detect the contaminant at very low levels. The levels we can detect are EPA recommends these secondary standards to water systems, but does not require systems to comply. However, states may choose to adopt them as enforceable standards.
You may want to customize your water through additional, advanced water treatmen |
