Water Testing> Well testing
Cooperative Private Well Testing Program
Should you test your well water?Wells have an increased likelihood of contamination if your well is older; dug or driven, rather than drilled; shallow; close to possible sources of contamination such as cropland, feedlots, landfills, industrial sites - active or abandoned. Other causes for contamination: your soil is sandy or a chemical spill is known to have happened nearby. Even if your well fits none of these categories, no one can guarantee the quality of your water without testing. Contaminants may have entered the ground without your knowledge or before you lived at the site. |
How safe is your drinking water? |
Request a test kit:Call:
Nancy Miller 419.448.2198 or 800.925.9250 ext. 2198 |
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How large is the program?The program was started in Ohio in 1987. More than 25,000 wells have been tested from all Ohio's 88 counties. Since 1990, the program has been offered in other states. Almost 30,000 wells have been tested from 350 counties in 25 other states.
Locations of NCQWR well water testing |
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What has testing shown so far?The results of the program indicate that the extent of nitrate and triazine pesticide contamination varies greatly from county to county. Many agricultural counties have very little contamination in private wells, while other counties have considerable contamination, and nitrates appear more commonly than pesticides. As of summer 2007, over 54,700 wells had been tested. Most private wells tested had little to no concentration of nitrate or pesticides, but roughly 1 well in 24 (4.3 %) tested had nitrate concentrations that exceed the US EPA drinking water standard of 10 mg/ L (ppm). In contrast, only about one well in 300 had Triazine pesticide in excess of US EPA drinking water standard of 3.0 mg/L (ppb) based on 21,251 wells tested for pesticides. |
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Nitrate-nitrogen concentrations in 54,700 private wells tested in the Cooperative Private Well Testing Program through mid-2007 showing percent of wells in each concentration range.
Triazine pesticide concentrations in 21,251 private wells tested in the Cooperative Private Well Testing Program through mid-2007 showing percent of wells in each concentration range. Sponsor a private well testing program in your communityThe Cooperative Private Well Testing Program gives your organization the opportunity to sponsor a well testing program in your community or among your members. This program is designed to support local groundwater education and private source water protection by combining locally sponsored private well testing programs with the development of detailed local data bases on rural drinking water quality. If you’d like more information, contact our Deputy Director: |
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