My Well Test Results

Last Tuesday the Virginia Tech Extension Virginia Household Water Quality Program emailed me the water test results from my water sample taken last month as part of their well water clinic. This is what I saw when I opened my attachment:

None of the chemicals or bacteriological indicators that they tested for were found to be in excess of the U.S. EPA safe drinking water recommended limits. All good. In addition to the 14 contaminants they normally report, their instrument that analyzes metals and elements returns data for 14 additional contaminants, many of which are rarely found in well water, that Virginia Tech screens for and provides a supplemental report to people only if found in levels higher than recommended for drinking water. None of those contaminants were found to be elevated in my water samples.

This year the appearance of lead in the first draw sample from the powder room sink at 0.005 mg/L gave me pause, it is a little higher than last year at the same sink. The flush sample did not find any lead, it was “non detect,” ND. The presence of lead in water that sits for several hours or overnight generally comes the pipes and fixtures and becomes a bigger problem the older the pipes and fixture become. Over time older pipes and fixtures corrode or simply wear away and the lead and other corrosion material (like rust) is carried to the drinking water. Time and water do cause corrosion, but this can be aggravated by the pH of the water or other changes in water chemistry. The amount of lead corroded from metal plumbing generally increases with water corrosiveness.

My water is neutral, I have plastic pipes in the house, yet I am seeing traces of lead and copper. This is possible because there is lead and copper in the well equipment, pressure tank fittings and faucets. Until 2014 when the 2011 Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act went into effect, almost all drinking water fixtures were made from brass containing up to 8% lead, even if they carried a plated veneer of chrome, nickel or brushed aluminum and were sold as "lead free." So even home built with PVC piping in the 2000's may have some lead in most of the faucets.

Also, before 2014 Prime Western grade “lead free” galvanized steel zinc coating was required to contain between 0.5%-1.4% lead. After 2014, “lead free” galvanized steel have less than 0.25% lead in the surface coatings. My galvanized steel well casing was installed in 2004. Over time, even under neutral condition, any lead used in coatings can be released to the water and pumped to the household tap or accumulate in scale layers on the pipe surface or well bottom where scale can accumulate and be released or picked up and pumped with the water. Since 2018 I have replaced all the faucets that we use for cooking or drinking. There is little I can do about the galvanized steel casing on the well.  The brass fittings on pressure tanks and pitless adaptors are now available with less then 0.25% lead, but the standard was not revised until 2017. My older well may have some older components, but the flush test at ND indicates that the faucet might be the source- it’s probably time to replace that faucet.

I test my drinking water every year (sometimes more than once) to make sure it is safe to drink.  When we bought our home I tested the well for all the primary and secondary contaminants in the Safe Drinking Water Act as well as a suite of metals and pesticides using a certified laboratory and having the laboratory personnel draw the samples. I wanted a comprehensive baseline. Still, I did not test for everything, nobody could afford to (I think there are 80,000 or more known chemicals).

I tested the well to make sure that the well was drawing from a groundwater aquifer that was not contaminated. While you can treat, you cannot really "fix" groundwater.  In addition, I wanted a well that was fine without any need for water treatment to address naturally occurring contaminants. I ended up testing for all the contaminants in the Safe Drinking Water Act and for a group of common pesticides because the home was on the site of a former farm.   

I tested for Bacteria (Total Coliform and E-Coli), 19 heavy metals and minerals including lead, iron, arsenic and copper (many which are naturally occurring, but can impact health); 6 other inorganic compounds including nitrates and nitrites (can indicate fertilizer residue or animal waste); 5 physical factors including pH, hardness, TDS, alkalinity; 4 Trihalomethanes (THMs) and 47 Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOCs) including Benzene, Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether (MTBE) and Trichloroethene (TCE). Organochlorine pesticides, herbicides and PCBs. Finally, I tasted the water.

I do not have any treatment equipment in the house, so I was able to do only one set of water tests. When you test your well, always test the raw water so that you know what you are buying, and test the water after any treatment to make sure the treatment equipment is working properly. What you can live with in terms of water treatment equipment is really a personal decision. I preferred to have water that did not need of any treatment and was a little hard because I like the taste of hard water. I was more willing to renovate the kitchen than treat the water. It took me 10 years to be able to renovate the kitchen, but that whole time I've remained happy with my water.