Do you have you well water tested?

[Jokarva]

We've had some issues with dingy water after it rains a lot, so we contacted the Health dept about testing - $50, which I thought was a lot. The guy who drilled the well (in 1992) has offered to come check it out for us without charge, so we'll take him up on that.

There was also a story on the news last night about local wells contaminated with pesticides, a house we'd looked at in 2005 was built on an old apple orchard and had a contaminated well. Our pump wires were burned up by a lightening strike, we have so much iron we needed a big bucks filter system.....I just never realized how many issues could surround a well, we had one growing up and I don't think we ever gave it a second thought. Free water indeed....

So do you test your water regularly?

[emdeengee]

Yes. Absolutely. I know it costs but it is a good investment. And it should be done by someone who is certified as a water quality technologist at a lab that will do all the testing necessary.

Your well should be tested right when you move in or drill so that you have a baseline and can thus track changes. Right now we have friends who are fighting a mining company about the damage to their well. Fortunately they have a consequtive record.

[theemon]

the health dept. charges 75$ here, and only tests for bactiria(sp?) mainly coll-er-ria(sp?) and e-col-i(a form of that colleria stuff)... i had mine tested when i moved in, thought it was a waste of money, but i got a 2 yr old and the test eased my wifes mind...

[simi-steading]

Before we bought our place I had the well heavily tested to the tune of a little over a thousand dollars... The well is in the middle of an oil field after all...

I had it tested for heavy metals, hydrocarbons, gases (radon included) minerals and bacteria, and I can't remember what else..

It came back clean of hydrocarbons and bacteria, but I also found out what minerals were high so I can get the right kinds of filters.... (White clothes turning black can be a drag.. )

Since I know there is not a bacteria problem now I'll probably only test for it once every 6 months or so until I know the water...

I used to live on a well that I had a lot of e-coli problems with and it ran dry every now and then too, so I had it tested every other month.. ran about $40 a test then... It was worth it though because even though I kept dumping in bleach I had to adjust amounts so much..