SAFER PA Releases New Handbook for Private Water Well Owners in Pennsylvania

Upon recognizing that many homeowners in Pennsylvania do not have sufficient information regarding the function and management of their private water supplies, the Shale Alliance for Energy Research – Pennsylvania (SAFER PA) developed the “Pennsylvania Water Well Handbook”. This public service document conveys important information in a straight-forward manner, including an overview of Pennsylvania private water supplies, details on the natural water cycle, how water occurs in aquifers, typical water quality issues, best management practices for water well siting and construction, water quality protection, how to interpret laboratory reports, and improvement of water quality through treatment. The Handbook is expected to have wide distribution, and is available in both hard copy and in electronic form. It is intended to be used as a valuable information piece for well owners, industry and regulators . To obtain an electronic copy of the Handbook and for information concerning how to order hard copies, visit: www.saferpa.org/WaterWellHandbook

Web Optimized Copy as a pdf

The Shale Alliance for Energy Research, Pennsylvania (SAFER PA; Website Link: http://www.saferpa.org/Pages/default.aspx), an independent, not-for-profit organization committed to advancing technology, analysis and education supporting safe and sustainable development of the Commonwealth’s shale resources, has made available the “Pennsylvania Water Well Handbook.”

Als0 – Do not forget to check out the Private Well Owner Guide to Pennsylvania, published in 2012.  Over 53 pages of helpful information on drinking water quality, baseline testing, shock well disinfection, and assistance with the Citizens Groundwater Database.

Everything we do began with an idea.

We have offered “Free” Assistance to this effort, but if you are a private well owner that needs assistance we are happy to help.

We realize your time is precious and the world is hectic. CCGG’s volunteers do only what they’re comfortable with. It can be a little or a lot.  Get YOUR WATER Tested – Discounted Screening Tests !

For more information, please go to CCGG’s About Page or contact us.  Follow us on Twitter 

Keystone Clean Water Team is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.    Unsolicited donations are appreciated (Helps us complete our mission), but we also do local educational workshops and local cellphone/small electronic recycling programs. If you would like to set up a program to help recycle cellphones at an event, business, or other organization.  Through our program we can recycle  cell phones, iPods, game systems, and small digital cameras.  If your interested, please contact us.

Help the Organization and Get Your Water Tested or Order the Private Well Owner Guide (proceeds benefit This Organization). Water Science Basics!

Pennsylvania Private Well Construction Standards HB 48, HB 81 and Senate Bill 1461

House Bill 343 and Senate Bill 1461 both died in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee at the end of last year’s legislative session.  In January 2015, Representatives Harper and Godshall and Senator Vance re-introduced the legislation that died in the Senate Committee last session.

What can you do to support this re-introduced legislation?  Call your Representative and call your Senator and ask them to become co-sponsors of this legislation.

Representative Godshall introduced HB 48.  To read his memo

Representative Harper introduced HB 81.  To read her memo

Senator Vance will re-introduce SB 1461.  To read her memo

When you call, to help you explain the reasons why Pennsylvania needs residential water well construction standards, I have prepared some talking points you could use when you talk to your Representative and your Senator. You could pick a few points that you feel the strongest about or that relate directly to you.

Why does Pennsylvania need standards for the proper construction of residential water wells?

1. 50% of private well owners drink water that fails at least 1 primary drinking water standard.
2. About 30% of private well owners fail one or more primary drinking water standards and a secondary drinking water standard.
3. Failing a drinking water standard means people and children can get sick.
4. Poorly constructed private wells adversely impact the individual families and the communities.
5. Since Groundwater and Surface Water are connected and about 60% percent of surface water was actually groundwater, this means contaminated private wells impacts surface water quality.
6.Poorly constructed private wells have facilitated groundwater contamination and threatened public water supplies.
7. We need private well construction standards and we need a program to assist private well owners to fix their existing wells.
8. We do not need new PADEP regulations or oversight on private well water usage, but we need a public private partnership to educate the community, help identify the problems, and help to fix these problems.
9.  The Keystone Clean Water Team has been working on this effort since 1989.  We want to be part of the solution.
10. This is a health and public safety issue.

When You send a comment to the legislators cited above please mention the Keystone Clean Water Team – http://www.pacleanwater.org.

Get Our Recent Booklet 

Please consider supporting the Keystone Clean Water Team – Here is How You Can Help!
Please Share this Webpage with Your Friends and Family.

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Get Your Private Well Water Tested Help Protect Groundwater Quality

For 2015, the Keystone Clean Water Team is making sure we inform all visitors about two unique programs.

Program 1 – Informational Water Testing

The Keystone Clean Water Team has partnered with a National Water Testing Laboratory and offering drinking water testing for private well owners.  A proceeds is donated to the Keystone Clean Water Team.  In addition, the Keystone Clean Water Team has agreed to provide a review of the results, send out a copy of our educational booklet on drinking water quality, and become a supporter of the organization for all individuals that have the testing completed and submit a copy of the testing to us to review .  To order the sampling kit and have it mailed to your home – Visit Our Customized Water Test Kit Portal.    After you get your results, please email a copy of the results will your full mailing address to cleanwater@carbonwaters.org.

Program 2 – Citizens Groundwater and Surface Water Database for Pennsylvania

To help track baseline quality and water quality change in Pennsylvania.  The Keystone Clean Water Team is helping with compiling data for the Citizens Groundwater and Surface Water Database.  This database started in 2009 in Columbia and Luzerne County, Pennsylvania and has been expanded to cover Pennsylvania.  This database will contain only certified pre-drilling and post-drilling certified water quality testing form individual private well owners.  To participate in this program, Please Visit this Webportal.  For your participation in the database, you will have a confidential report prepared by a licensed professional geologist and will obtain a copy of our education booklet on drinking water.

Everything we do began with an idea.

We have offered “Free” Assistance to this effort, but if you are a private well owner that needs assistance we are happy to help.

We realize your time is precious and the world is hectic. CCGG’s volunteers do only what they’re comfortable with. It can be a little or a lot.  Get YOUR WATER Tested – Discounted Screening Tests !

For more information, please go to CCGG’s About Page or contact us.  Follow us on Twitter 

Keystone Clean Water Team is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.    Unsolicited donations are appreciated (Helps us complete our mission), but we also do local educational workshops and local cellphone/small electronic recycling programs. If you would like to set up a program to help recycle cellphones at an event, business, or other organization.  Through our program we can recycle  cell phones, iPods, game systems, and small digital cameras.  If your interested, please contact us.

Help the Organization and Get Your Water Tested or Order the Private Well Owner Guide (proceeds benefit This Organization). Water Science Basics!

Careers In Energy Northeast Pennsylvania Valley View High School

Valley View High School Careers in Energy Day

Keystone Clean Water Team participated in this event.  There appeared to be over 100 students that learned about energy related careers.  Our presentation was related to all forms of energy with a focus on renewable energy, conservation, waste reduction, and the need for a National Energy Policy and Plan.  We also discussed career planning and how best to take the first step to make a positive change.  A pdf of the presentation , Careers in Energy Northeast Pennsylvania, can be found here.  In addition, the students turned in a number of old cell phones.  Great Students and Future Leaders !

 

Regional Training Courses or Programs

Featured:
Sustainability Training and Energy Production Distribution
Training in Energy Audits

Everything we do began with an idea.

We have offered “Free” Assistance to this effort, but if you are a private well owner that needs assistance we are happy to help.

We realize your time is precious and the world is hectic. CCGG’s volunteers do only what they’re comfortable with. It can be a little or a lot.  Get YOUR WATER Tested – Discounted Screening Tests !

For more information, please go to CCGG’s About Page or contact us.  Follow us on Twitter 

Keystone Clean Water Team is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.    Unsolicited donations are appreciated (Helps us complete our mission), but we also do local educational workshops and local cellphone/small electronic recycling programs. If you would like to set up a program to help recycle cellphones at an event, business, or other organization.  Through our program we can recycle  cell phones, iPods, game systems, and small digital cameras.  If your interested, please contact us.

Help the Organization and Get Your Water Tested or Order the Private Well Owner Guide (proceeds benefit This Organization). Water Science Basics!

Private Well Water System Drinking Water Well Owner Homebuyer in Rural Pennsylvania

Welcome to Pennsylvania and Welcome to Managing Your Own Small Water Company

In Pennsylvania,  there are generally no specific construction standards for private wells and there is only some general guidance with respect to well placement and construction.  Further, private well water is not regulated by the EPA or PADEP and therefore it is up to YOU to check your water to ensure that the well produces good clean and adequate water.    This is only a short summary of the information.  If you are interested we offer a Private Well Owner Training Course that can be offered as a Workshop for Your Community, Association, or other Organization  (Some of our community project pages).

There are a number of steps to this process and well will break them down as follows:

Well Placement
Well Construction
Well Testing (Yield and Quality)
Well Maintenance
Annual Water Testing

Well Placement
In general, the primary guidance with to water well placement in Pennsylvania is that a water well should be 100 feet from a septic system (regulated), 50 feet from a septic tank (regulated), 10 feet from a sewer line under pressure (regulated), 300 + feet from petrochemical storage, and 10 feet from a property line. To be honest, these isolation distance do not consider impacts from other natural conditions or activities.  In general, we  would recommend the following:

1. If possible, the private well owner should control all activities within a 50 to  100 foot radius of the wellhead, i.e.., top of the water well. These activities should include: use of pesticides and herbicides, storage of toxic or hazardous chemicals, storage or management of manure and other waste, diversion of surface water and runoff, overuse of the area by grazing animals, location of burrow pits, burn pipes, rubbish storage, or storage of used cars or other items that may contain antifreeze, oils, and greases.
2. Well casing should extend at least 18 inches above grade.
3. Well should be fitted with a sanitary well cap that has some form of venting.
4. The well should be located at least 10 feet from a property line.
5. It might be wise to install a Well Seal.

Other suggested isolation distances

Delineated wetlands or floodplains (25 feet)- with top of casing 3 feet above flood elevation.
Surface waters (25 feet) Storm water Systems (25 feet)
BioInfiltration Stormwater Systems (100 feet +)
Spray Irrigation/ Septage Disposal (100 feet+)
Sinkholes and Closed Depressions (100 feet +)
Farm silos / manure storage (200 feet) Septic Systems (100 feet)
Septic Tanks/Holding Tanks (50 feet)
Chemical Storage/Preparation Area (300 feet)

Well Construction

1. Prefer the use of steel casing that extends at least 15 feet to 20 feet into firm bedrock or 60 feet below ground, whichever is greater.
2. Casing should be of  adequate wall thickness to deal with corrosion and stress – 19lb casing+ (Steel).
3. The base of the casing should contain a harden driveshoe on the bottom of the casing and casing centralized in the borehole.
4. Wells drilled by a licensed well driller using only potable water as the drilling fluid.
5. Casing should be double circumferential welded or threaded casing.
6. Well caps should be sanitary well caps that are properly vented.
7. Annular space should have a neat cement grout layer that is at least 1.5 inches thick.
8. Pitless adapters should be used over well pits and if possible an NSF 61 pitless adapter used.

Well Testing (Yield and Quality)

After the well is drilled, the well should be developed using surging, air-lift, or pumping the well.  This is done to clean out the well cuttings and improve yield.  In some cases, this needs to be done to improve the efficiency of the borehole. If the well yield is low, some well drillers will hydrofrac the well. If you are going to hydrofrac a water well, we recommend zone hydraulic fracturing to isolate the deeper potential water-bearing zones.   After the well development has been completed, a shock wellbore disinfection should be conducted.  The well should be allowed to fully recover and a minimum 2-hour yield test is recommend.  After the yield testing, the well should be shock disinfected.  For information on shock disinfection – we recommend visiting Water-Research Center (Know Your H20) .   The well yield data should include the static water level (water level before pumping), maximum dynamic water level (maximum depth to water during pumping), pumping rate, and length of the pumping test.  This data should be included on the well log and the specific capacity of the well should be reported.  The specific capacity is the rate of yield or gallons per minute per foot of drawdown.  The drawdown is the difference between the static and dynamic water level measurement. 

Before the end of the yield testing, it is recommended that a general water quality analysis of the well be conducted.  This testing should include bacterial quality, general water quality, and specific parameters that are known problems for your region.  Do not rely on a free water analysis or a basic water quality screening down by the well driller.  This should be either information or certified testing conducted by a laboratory.  For information on this type of testing, please contact the Keystone Clean Water Team or the Water-Research Center.   The initial water quality testing data should be reviewed and evaluated.  The first well or city water quality test should be a comprehensive water quality check.  If you are want informational water testing, we would recommend either the Well Water Check or the City Water Check Option. This evaluation should include the need for any further action to improve the well security, continue with well development, or add equipment to improve well water quality.  In some cases, water treatment systems are installed as an additional barrier or layer of protection.  In many cases, the only type of additional treatment that is needed is a whole-house particle filter and a sanitary well cap.  For information on Do-it-Yourself Water Treatment Systems (US Water Systems, FilterWater.com, or Crystal Quest) .

Well and System Maintenance

At a minimum, the well water system should go through an annual inspection.  This inspection could be associated with the annual water quality test or inspection of any water treatment systems.  During this evaluation, the aesthetic quality of the water should be evaluated and some basic field water quality screening should be conducted.   For the field water screening, it is possible this can be done using a number of low-cost meters or an informational water quality screening test.

Annual Water Testing

Depending on the results of the initial evaluation, the results should be evaluated to determine what are the water quality parameters that should be monitored to help track the general water quality of the well.  If a water treatment system was installed, the annual water quality evaluation should include the performance of the water treatment system.  If you need help with determining what you need, WE can Help – We first recommend our Self-Diagnostic Tool and then maybe the DIY Water Testing or Informational Water Testing Program.  The Keystone Clean Water Team can provide guidance on the selection of water quality parameters, review water quality data, and make recommendations on the water quality parameters.  If you are interested, you may want to obtain a copy of our Educational Booklet and Brochure.

To Review a Number of our Case Studies – Common Private Well Problems and Fixes.

In some cases, you may need Baseline Water Testing.

Everything we do began with an idea.

We have offered “Free” Assistance to this effort, but if you are a private well owner that needs assistance we are happy to help.

We realize your time is precious and the world is hectic. CCGG’s volunteers do only what they’re comfortable with. It can be a little or a lot.  Get YOUR WATER Tested – Discounted Screening Tests !

For more information, please go to CCGG’s About Page or contact us.  Follow us on Twitter 

Keystone Clean Water Team is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.    Unsolicited donations are appreciated (Helps us complete our mission and we have a current Go Fund Me Campaign.  If your interested, please contact us.

Help the Organization and Get Your Water Tested (Partner Site) or Order the Private Well Owner Guide (proceeds benefit This Organization).

Water Science Basics!

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The Top Drinking Water Contaminants for Private Well Owners and City Water Sources of Drinking Water.