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Water problems not to be ignored

June 26, 2009 12:36 am

AS AN EXTENSION agent concerned with all aspects of water quality, I often hear about the problems homeowners are experiencing with their household water. Most of these issues involve homeowners who have private wells. In the greater Fredericksburg area more than half of all housing units are served by individual water systems that depend on groundwater sources.

If your water comes from a public or municipal system, it is regulated by federal and state standards and regularly tested for contaminants. These contaminants include microbial pathogens, radioactive elements and certain toxic chemicals. With these systems there is seldom a need for home water treatment.

If you are on a private well you are personally responsible for testing and treating the water to avoid health risks. No water is 100 percent pure. It will usually contain minerals, gases, bacteria, metals and chemicals. Many of these are harmless, but some can harm your health, damage equipment, stain fixtures such as tubs and sinks, or emit odors.

One major concern is microbial pathogens in the water supply. These include bacteria, viruses and parasites, which can turn up if your well is near a septic tank or an area subject to animal wastes.

Your local health department can test your water for the presence of coliform bacteria, which originate in the intestinal tracts of humans and animals. A positive coliform test indicates that the water may be polluted with sewage or animal waste, and further tests are advisable. Health problems caused by such contamination include headaches, nausea, intestinal disturbances and waterborne diseases.

The Virginia Department of Health recommends that private well water be tested for bacterial contamination at least once a year. All county health departments offer residential water testing for a small fee.

Many contaminants are categorized as "nuisance contaminants," such as iron, non-coliform bacteria, copper, sulfates, and chlorides or salts. These have no adverse health effects at low levels, but make the household water unsuitable for some uses.

The water's actual chemistry can present other issues. The pH, or acidity, of the water can cause what I call "in home" nuisance contamination. Acidic water can corrode and pit the insides of pipes, causing copper and iron to become nuisance contaminants. If you see bluish or rust-colored stains on the porcelain of your sinks and tubs, this may due to acidic water.

This winter I participated in a program that evaluated household water quality in Caroline and King George counties. We looked at samples from more than 125 home wells. For a relatively small fee we tested for nitrates and bacteria and a number of chemicals including iron, sodium, fluoride, manganese, copper, sulfate and chloride. We also tested saturation index, total dissolved solids, pH and water hardness.

By far the most common possible health problem identified was total coliform (in 32 percent of the water sources). This is why most health departments usually test only for bacterial contamination, proven to be the major possible source of contamination in home drinking water.

We also found fairly high levels of nitrates in 24 percent of the samples. This is probably due to leaching from nearby agricultural areas. Another common problem was low pH.

If you suspect you have water problems, there are laboratories across Virginia that test for many other possible contaminants. You can contact me, or your local Extension office, for a list.

What do you do if you have identified a problem? Methods to improve the quality of water are divided into two main areas: water treatment and water conditioning.

Water treatment systems remove health-threatening contaminants from the water. These include fecal coliform, nitrates, arsenic, lead, petroleum products and pesticides.

Water conditioning corrects nuisance problems such as taste, color, odor, pH and hardness by removing calcium, metals, chlorides and sulfates.

Choosing an in-home water conditioning or treatment device can be confusing and complicated, since there may be more than one water quality issue that needs to be corrected.

Fact sheets and information are available from your local Virginia Cooperative Extension office to help you interpret your testing results and to understand how treatment and conditioning systems work.