Why test your well water?

WHY TEST YOUR WELL WATER? TO PROTECT HEALTH & PROPERTY A safe drinking water supply is essential to human health and protecting the value of residential property. Well testing is an important part of due diligence before the purchase of any property supplied by a well. Without testing, it is impossible to know whether well water is safe to drink. If there is contamination, the well owner will need to install and maintain a filtration system. The cost of these systems vary depending on the contaminants. WHO MAKES SURE MY WELL Q. WATER IS SAFE TO DRINK? THE WELL OWNER IS RESPONSIBLE д FOR ITS SAFETY. Private wells are not regulated under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, which sets limits on the levels of certain contaminants in public and private water systems. If you are buying property with a private well, YOU are responsible for having the water tested. DOES NC LAW REQUIRE THAT Q. PRIVATE WELLS BE TESTED? YES, BUT ONLY IF THE WELL WAS INSTALLED д AFTER JULY 1,2008. A* Under NC's private well testing program, N.C. Gen. Stat. 87-97, when a new well is constructed, the local health department is required to test the water for arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, fluoride, lead, iron, magnesium, manganese, mercury, nitrates, nitrites, selenium, silver, sodium, zinc, pH, and bacterial indicators. The law only applies to new wells installed on or after July 1, 2008. Adequate testing is an important part of DUE DILIGENCE before the purchase of any property supplied by a well. 2 POTENTIAL CONTAMINANTS IN NC WELL WATER INCLUDE: Radium & uranium. INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION GenX, gasoline, dry- cleaning solvents, & VOCs. NITRATES 6 NITRITES Chemical fertilizers, human waste or animal waste. INORGANIC METALS Barium, chromium, copper, lead, & arsenic. BACTERIA & MICROBES E. coli & coliform bacteria from animal waste. ACTIVITIES THAT CAN CONTAMINATE YOUR WELL: C< TRU< DECOMPOSING WASTE SURFACE RUN-OFF L >OD| Л Л* INC. STORAGE TAN»S л LAMOH ■ AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES WHERE CAN I LEARN ABOUT n CONTAMINANTS THAT MAY BE U. IN MY COMMONITY? NCDHHS HAS CONTAMINANT Д MAPS BY COUNTY. Л Each county report depicts contamination trends found in private well water samples. These reports do not give detailed contaminant concentrations in smaller areas or for a single well. The NC DEQ Community Mapping System & Division of Waste Management Site Locator Tool are also resources for identifying contaminants of concern.