SMETHPORT — Since Pennsylvania has no statewide requirements for testing private water supplies, homeowners are urged to have their water tested by accredited testing laboratories, which are located in every region of the state, and provide accurate results.
This is one of the messages that came from Danielle Rhea, extension educator for water resources for Penn State Extension, one of two presenters Wednesday at the Safe Drinking Water Clinic at the McKean County Housing Authority in Smethport. These clinics are supported by a grant from the Master Well Owner Network grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Rhea opened the first of two sessions with a Power Point presentation that covered the topics of the proper location of private water wells and their construction, maintenance, testing, protection and treatment.
Rhea explained that The Pennsylvania State University is one of the top 20 science-based research institutions in the country, and it is the job of its extension service to translate this information for public use.
“Ground water,” Rhea said, “is precipitation that soaks into the ground, with some percolating to the water table. It moves at different rates depending on the soil and rock formations and and can carry fertilizer and manure. It is not stagnant. It moves, carrying fertilizer and manure.”
Therefore, it is very important to carefully consider where a water well is placed, especially as it can affect human health and the environment, Rhea said. “The ideal locations are at least 100 feet from septic systems, and away from farm fields, areas of runoff, roads and neighbors’ property lines,” Rhea stated. “Land uses, such as landfills, housing, roads, agriculture, mining, industry and gas drilling can certainly impact the groundwater.”
Properly located wells should have casing to bedrock, grout sealing and sanitary well caps and be sloping away from the well head.
Once the well drilling is finished, homeowners should obtain a well completion report that shows the depth, layers and clean water quality. Of those in attendance at this session, 18 percent had these reports, while 64 percent did not.
“Wells should be professionally inspected every ten years, “ Rhea noted.
Well testing is recommended once every 14 months. Eighty-three percent of the attendees have had their water supplies tested.
Statewide, 45 percent of the more than one million homes with private water systems have never had them tested.
A chain of custody water testing, which lists all individuals who handle the samples, can be done for a small fee and provides legal, valid results, according to Penn State Extension.
Rhea said Penn State Extension can assist homeowners in interpreting the numbers on their well test results.
Steps to take in solving water quality problems include new sources, pollution controls, maintenance/repair, treatment and bottled water.
When speaking about water treatments, Rhea said, “No one treatment solves all problems. For instance, shock chlorinate will only kill bacteria present in the water at that time and is not meant for continuous use.”
A UV light can kill bacteria without changing its taste, but it’s expensive.
Other treatments are carbon filtration, acid neutralizers, oxidizing filters.
“Why should we conserve water?” Rhea asked.
“Some reasons to do so are to conserve for future use, reduce energy costs and reduce loads on septic systems,”
While Rhea was presenting the Power Point information, Brian Swistock, water resource extension specialist for Penn State, was testing clinic attendees’ water samples for pH, nitrates and total dissolved solids, but not for coliform and E Coli, which require longer time to produce results, and those readings will be emailed to the homeowners. The results are not official and are offered only for educational purposes.
Swistock explained the test result reports, column by column. Answers were listed as “Present” or Absent.” “Of course, you all want E coli and coliform to be “Absent.’”
Swistock agreed with Rhea that shock treatment is just a temporary solution, but added, “it also affects the entire system, but research shows that shock treatment works just 15 percent of the time.”
Lead, which is found in many systems, can be reduced in various ways.
“One,” Swistock said, “is to run the water for awhile so it gets warm. It can also be removed from the pipes by filtration. One prevention measure is to replace the pipes.”
A low pH reading can be corrosive to metal water pipes, while high pH gives water a salty taste, but is not a health risk, Swistock said.
