Why should I worry about water quality? Water Infrastructure gets a D-

I found an interesting website today at www.infrastructurereportcard.org/

There are two reasons to worry about water quality. The first is municipal water. The second is well water.

On the municipal water side, I would like to point out something that is not really related to drinking water. It is called the Tapan Zee bridge over the Hudson River, and to me it is one of the most frightening structures in the United States. 136,000 cars cross this bridge every day, and it doesn't take a close inspection to know that it is way past its safe useful life (a 1999 engineering study states that the bridge needs replacement and it is still being used 10 years later). If the people in charge of infrastructure are not concerned that at least 136,000 people a day see how bad the Tappan Zee bridge looks, how concerned are they going to be about the water infrastructure which lies mostly underground? I am not criticizing the wonderful people who work in municipal water treatment who do the best job possible to provide us with safe water. I am criticizing the lack of improvement and replacement on all infrastructure in our country. A colleague who works for a municipal water system in southern Westchester County told me that many water distribution pipes are WOODEN pipes that were installed over a hundred years ago while many others are LEAD. Parts are failing constantly.

I will only drink municipal water if it has passed through a reverse osmosis drinking water system.

Things are also bad for those with private wells. At least in municipal systems there are enforceable standards and there are workers who continuously monitor the water quality at the treatment plant. In a private well, there are no ENFORCEABLE standards and unless you have an environmental engineering degree, you are most likely not monitoring your water quality on a daily basis. A well pump is installed and nobody checks the well for 20 years or so until the pump fails and needs to be replaced. The house is sold and a bacteria test is done to ensure no contamination of the water, and then nobody tests the water until the house is sold again. This doesn't take into account the fact that if the water is good today, something such as animal contamination, flooding, or septic cross contamination can happen tomorrow. And think of all the chemicals you and your neighbors are pouring on your lawn every year to kill weeds and insects and green up the grass.

I only drink well water if it has passed through a reverse osmosis drinking water system. An ultraviolet sanitizing system is also a good addition to any private point of entry filtering system.

One other point to consider is that bottled water either comes from a well or a municipal water supply and the EPA rules allow a small percentage of bottled water to have a "small" amount of bacteria in it.

Any questions or concerns about your water? email me at tedmullen@hotmail.com and see my website at http://www.cleanwaterman.webs.com/ and call me at 203-417-9601

Home sale cancelled due to incorrect water test technique.

Recently I was called out to chlorinate a well system. The home was for sale and there had been a positive test showing coliform and ecoli in the well water. The potential buyers (city dwellers not used to wells) decided to cancel the sale because of fear of contaminated water. I asked the home sellers if they had seen the test done and they told me how the home inspector had simply turned on the kitchen tap and filled a sample bottle which he then put the lid on and stuck it in his pocket. WRONG - don't do bacteria tests this way.



Here is what you need:

• A sterile sample bottle (preferably one you picked up from the lab that you will bring the test to)


• A pair of pliers and a small sheet of rubber


• At least a Bic type lighter (or in my case, I use a hand torch)


• A cooler

Find a metal faucet in the home, preferably one that gets used all the time (kitchen or bathroom). Run the water at that faucet for 5 minutes (20 minutes if the home has not been lived in for several months). Turn off the faucet and using the pliers and rubber sheet (to prevent damage to the surface finish) remove the aerator and gasket or o-ring from the spout. This is very important because this is the place where air and water meet and airborne splashes can bring bacteria to this point where it can fester. We only want to check for bacteria in the well, pipes, and filter system, not on outer surfaces.

Next, run the water another minute or so and turn off again. This next part is why it is so important to do this at a metal faucet. Sanitize the faucet spout by lighting the Bic lighter and heating the spout end (where the water comes out). If you did this to the aerator, it would melt it's insides, thus the reason for removing it and only sanitizing the metal part of the spout. I would make a circular motion under the spout for a minute or so, making sure to get the round edge well.

Get the sterile sample bottle. Turn the water on brisk, but slow enough so that it does not splash from the bottom of the sink and potentially into the sample or back onto the spout. Remove the lid and fill the bottle to the fill line. Place bottle in chilled cooler with ice or ice pack. Deliver to lab. Deviations from these instructions may cause a false positive test due to contamination of sample. How do I know? Before I chlorinated the well, I took a sample using the correct method. When the lab results came back, the test showed negative - in other words - no bacteria. It was obvious that the improper test method caused contamination of the sample. I suggest that when an inspection is done in a home you are selling you should watch the person testing your water to make sure the test is done properly. Print this post to make sure you have the information handy.