Water Quality Testing

[SD51555]

We're getting into the off-season now, time to go off the deep end in the science world again. Topic for today is water testing. I'm curious about my drinking water at the cabin, my would-be pond water quality, and my city water source where I live when I'm not in the woods. I spoke to Midwest Labs this afternoon and they can do glyphosate and atrazine tests, but they do not do neonicotinoids and pharmaceutical contamination testing. They referred me to a lab in Oregon that may be able to test for neonics and pharmaceuticals. I've got a message into the dude that handles that out there, and I'm waiting for a call back.

I mostly want to make sure where my fish pond will be, that I've got good water and not something that's gonna throw things off. I'm also concerned about the water I'm drinking at the cabin. There's no indicator that there's any problems, but I just wanna make sure I'm not drinking out of a buried used oil dump or garbage pile I haven't found nearby.

I'm really curious about the city water, because my city gets 82% of it's water from ag and storm sewer runoff. The tests they run look good, but I'm concerned about the stuff for which they are not testing.

 

[Jerry-B-WI]

I don't know the location of your city, cabin or pond but PFAS is the latest buzz word in water, land, fish and wildlife pollution. I have no idea what the cost would be to add it to your test.

 

[MNAaron]

I work with drinking water issues across the state holler if you want to chat about your tests.

I would do bacteria, nitrates and arsenics for sure.

Doubt you have PFAS in your well water since I am guessing you have woods and swamp around you mostly.


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[SD51555]

I work with drinking water issues across the state holler if you want to chat about your tests.

I would do bacteria, nitrates and arsenics for sure.

Doubt you have PFAS in your well water since I am guessing you have woods and swamp around you mostly.


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I'm not worried about PFAS. Just the practices of the old days of dumping and burying hazardous wastes. I spent too much time on farms growing up to not be looking for the same stuff now. I can't imagine what people are going to find when they go to dig basements in these abandoned pastures.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I'm not worried about PFAS. Just the practices of the old days of dumping and burying hazardous wastes. I spent too much time on farms growing up to not be looking for the same stuff now. I can't imagine what people are going to find when they go to dig basements in these abandoned pastures.

Some land I knew about had a large stack of old car batteries stored in a meadow, field, wooded area. I called the state and asked what can be done, they said the area would need to be dug up, the soil would all need to be treated, and returned. They would match up to 1 million of the cost, unfortunately I was told it would cost upwards of $15 million, I asked what should be done, they said nothing unless I had the money to pay for it to be cleaned up. They never asked where the land was, or inspected it at all. They said back in the 50's it was common for old tires, and batteries to be just piled at old farm sited. The lead was all recycled, but the soil was left as it was. So, yes, it isnt all that uncommon.

 

[Turkish]

We're getting into the off-season now, time to go off the deep end in the science world again. Topic for today is water testing. I'm curious about my drinking water at the cabin, my would-be pond water quality, and my city water source where I live when I'm not in the woods. I spoke to Midwest Labs this afternoon and they can do glyphosate and atrazine tests, but they do not do neonicotinoids and pharmaceutical contamination testing. They referred me to a lab in Oregon that may be able to test for neonics and pharmaceuticals. I've got a message into the dude that handles that out there, and I'm waiting for a call back.

I mostly want to make sure where my fish pond will be, that I've got good water and not something that's gonna throw things off. I'm also concerned about the water I'm drinking at the cabin. There's no indicator that there's any problems, but I just wanna make sure I'm not drinking out of a buried used oil dump or garbage pile I haven't found nearby.

I'm really curious about the city water, because my city gets 82% of it's water from ag and storm sewer runoff. The tests they run look good, but I'm concerned about the stuff for which they are not testing.

Smart man. Let us know what you learn!

 

[westonwhitetail]

I work for an engineering company and design municipal water systems. When we are siting a well, we sometimes use this lab for a broad check of water quality parameters. There are a number of others required for a municipal well/water supply, but this is a reasonable price option for checking many parameters.

WaterCheck™ Deluxe

The Watercheck with Pesticide Option water testing package is designed for homeowner whose drinking water comes from a private well or spring.

watercheck.com

Your City water system has a consumer confidence report (CCR) which is an annual report that should detail water quality. Municipal systems have testing requirements and if the water tests above the standards, treatment is required. Minnesota Department of Health has a lot of info.

And yes you are correct they test for a lot of parameters, but they don't and can't test for everything. Every so often new testing requirements come out. The latest is PFAS, which others have mentioned. The EPA has a list of potential contaminants which they prioritize and analyze which contaminants should have required testing. Every few years they add something new to the testing requirements, but the list of things currently not testing for is huge.

I live in the country, so I have always thought about testing my well for more than the typical nitrates, arsenic etc.. But then I think, what am I going to do about it if I have a high concentration of X. There's no way I'm building a water treatment facility. Most Culligan systems and filters aren't designed to remove everything. I installed a filtration system for my drinking water, which is about the best you can do but if there's something beyond that, I guess I'm choosing to live in ignorant bliss? The only other option would be to buy bottled water but I don't think your guaranteed that that is pure either since most of that comes from municipal water systems.