Page Updated: Jan-17-2011

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Private Well Water Resources

Approximately 14-15 million households in the United States rely on a private, household well for drinking water each year, and more than 90,000 new wells are drilled throughout the United States each year. Contamination of a private well is not only the concern of the household served by the well, but also the households using other nearby water supplies and the aquifer that the water is drawn from. If you have a private well, it is important to know when to test and how to maintain your well properly to ensure your family's health.
Below are some resources that can help you know more about your well water and your health.

Well Water Fact Sheets

These fact sheets provide information on contaminants that can be found in the water you drink from your well.

Testing Your Well Water

Well Water Testing FAQ's
Contaminants in Well Water

Specific Water Contaminants

Well Water Testing FAQ's
Contaminants in Well Water

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Water Resources

• EPA's Private Drinking Water Wells page
• Read the EPA "Drinking Water from Household Wells" document. Also available in PDF format [24 pages, 1.6 MB]
• Read the EPA recommendations for private well owners.
• Contact your local health department or the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 800-426-4791.

Should I Have My Water Tested ?

Ground Water Resources

• National Ground Water Association home page
• Schedule your annual water well checkup!
• Radium & well water - Wiscousin Department of Natural Resources

Well Drinking Water a Danger to Infants

High nitrate levels in drinking water pose a risk to infants by casuing a condition known as “blue baby" also know as methemologlobinem. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, an estimated 15 million families drink water from private, unregulated wells. 2 million families drink from wells that fail to meet federal drinking-water standards for nitrate.

Sources of nitrogen and nitrates may include runoff or seepage from fertilized agricultural lands, municipal and industrial waste water, refuse dumps, animal feedlots, septic tanks and private sewage disposal systems, urban drainage and decaying plant debris. For more infomation about nitrates found in well drinking water.

http://www.idph.state.il.us/

Perchlorate Found in Drinking Water - Debate Gets More Heated

By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - The debate about perchlorate contamination in drinking water is getting more heated as environmentalists object to a report claiming the widespread toxin is far less dangerous than was thought.

A National Academy of Sciences (news - web sites) panel said Monday that perchlorate, a toxic chemical used in rocket fuel and explosives, is safe for consumption at levels 20 times the standard being considered by the Environmental Protection Agency (news - web sites).

The study is expected to influence the EPA as it develops its first national standard for perchlorate in drinking water. But environmentalists contended such a high standard could endanger children's health while letting defense contractors off the hook for cleanup costs.

"Wherever this standard is applied, most perchlorate contamination sites will be wiped off the map," said Lenny Siegel, director of the Center for Public Environmental Oversight in Mountain View, Calif. "Millions of children and pregnant women will continue to be guinea pigs in the great perchlorate exposure experiment."

The study comes after years of disagreement over how dangerous it is for people to drink water tainted with perchlorate, a pervasive leftover of Cold War defense manufacturing that has been found in drinking water in 35 states. The chemical, which leaches easily into groundwater from defense and manufacturing sites, can inhibit thyroid function and is considered particularly dangerous to children.

While the chemical also is found in nature, the panel said its presence in the environment primarily comes from the manufacture and use of rocket fuels as well as explosives and fireworks.

The NAS panel recommended a level for safe human consumption that translates to approximately 20 parts per billion in drinking water. Two years ago, the EPA issued a preliminary recommendation of 1 part per billion.

"The committee disagrees with EPA's conclusion and thinks that perchlorate exposure is unlikely to lead to thyroid tumors in humans," the panel said in a statement accompanying its report.

The academy study was ordered by the Bush administration in 2003 to review the stricter standard the EPA had proposed in 2002. The Pentagon (news - web sites) had criticized that standard as too stringent and recommended one as high as 200 parts per billion.

The Natural Resources Defense Council contended that documents obtained under Freedom of Information Act requests showed the Pentagon and the White House had sought to influence the scope of the academy's study in order to get a weaker standard.

Local governments around the country already have begun trying to hold defense contractors and the Pentagon liable for huge cleanup costs to rid groundwater of the toxin.

Bob Hopkins, spokesman for the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy, said accusations of improper influence by administration officials "couldn't be further from the truth."

The academy defended its work. "The government had no influence over the conduct or outcome of this study," said E. William Colglazier, the academy's executive officer. "The committee members were highly competent, there were no conflicts of interest, and we have full confidence in the report."

A few states have defined their own proposed limits on perchlorate contamination in drinking water, though none is finalized. California's standard is 6 parts per billion, while Massachusetts' is 1 part per billion.

Although California's standard would remain in place even if the national standard were more lax, Californians would still be affected. Contamination in the Colorado River, which provides drinking water to 20 million people, comes from a site in Nevada.