Posted by Brian on June 25, 2013 · 1 Comment
PA House Committee Amends & OK’s the Private Water Well Construction Standards Bill –The House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee amended HB 343 to adopt the water well construction standards recommended by the American National Standards Institute/National Ground Water Association. The amendments also prohibit DCNR from requiring a permit for construction or decommissioning of a water well and prevents the state or municipalities from metering or imposing a fee for private water usage. PCPG supports the amendments and provided testimony in April before the committee recommending adoption of construction standards consistent with NGWA established standards. The bill was reported to the full House and then referred to the House Rules Committee. The text of SB 343 as amended can be found at the following link:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/BillInfo.cfm?syear=2013&sind=0&body=H&type=B&bn=343
If you are in Pennsylvania, you can contribute to the Citizen Groundwater Database and help track change for FREE and if you would like to learn about our Natural Gas Related Information, please visit us at http://www.private-well-owner.org.
Volunteer
We seek new people at all skill levels for a variety of programs. One thing that everyone can do is attend meetings to share ideas on improving CCGG, enabling us to better understand and address the concerns of well owners.
Everything we do began with an idea.
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.
For more information, please go to CCGG’s About Page or contact us.
Carbon County Groundwater Guardians is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Filed under Groundwater, Homeowner, marcellus shale, Water, Water Testing, Well, Well water testing · Tagged with national groundwater association, Pennsylvania Well Construction Standards, private well regulations, water well standards, well construction, wellowner education
Posted by Brian on June 5, 2013 · 21 Comments
Common Water Well Owners Problems- The Need for Well Water Testing
This website was development to provide a quick summary and reference related to some of the most common well water problems that are encountered or reported.
Problem 1 – I tested my water and it is Total Coliform Positive and I was told the water is not potable. What do I do? What treatment system do I need? Is my family safe?
Action:
Have a professional or licensed well driller inspect the well and conduct a shock disinfection of the well and distribution system (add a high dose of chlorine to the water, recirculate, and then flush it out – but not into an on-site sewage treatment system. After the well and system have been flushed, the water should be immediately tested for total coliform bacteria.
More Information
Problem 2 – My water is black and sometimes red or orange. What toxic chemical causes this ? Should I be buying bottled water??
Get the water tested – it is most likely iron and manganese. If you have never had the water tested, we would recommend a relatively comprehensive screening water test. The color of the water will depend on the pH and form of the iron and manganese. If the water enters the house clear and becomes discolored with time, the metals are dissolved in the water in a reduced form. If the water enters the home slightly discolored and the color gets darker or deeper, it is probably a combination of reduced (dissolved) and oxidized (particle) form. The solution will depend on the water testing results, but if you have an odor to the water or slime coatings the problem may also be caused by a slime or iron bacteria. Learn More at Iron/Manganese or Slime Bacteria.
Problem 3: My well water gets dirty after it rains and I get intermittent bacterial positive tests.
This could be a problem with the well casing, well construction, pitless adapter, or well cap. The first action may be to inspect the well, change the well cap to a sanitary well cap, and conduct a shock disinfection. If this does not correct the problem, you may need to inspect the well. This would be a camera survey of the wellbore and you would want to check for problems related to the pitless adapter, welds on the casing, integrity of the steel casing, and the presence of cascading or intermittent water bearing zones just below the casing or driveshoe.
Most Significant Problem
Improperly sited and constructed wells create a significant risk. These wells short-circuit the natural flow of freshwater and in many cases can facilitate groundwater contamination. The state of Pennsylvania and others need to create a program to fix private wells that make our Waters vulnerable to contamiantion. For PA – this was not caused by the wellowner, but caused by the lack of vision and proper regulations related to the siting and construction of private wells and permitting private wells to be installed in areas where available data suggested or indicated elevated levels of arsenic, iron, manganese, barium, and even saline water. We need to act as a community to fix this problem and use funding to Fix Poorly Constructed Private Wells – Remember We ALL Live Downstream – Be Part of the Solution – Help Fix and Protect OUR Waters. (Oram, 2013)
Content of this webpage is copyrighted by B.F. Environmental Consultants Inc – Permission was granted to use this information to create this webpage. The source of the information is the Private Well Owner Guide – Well Water Testing.
Website Provided for Educational Purpose.
Carbon County Groundwater Guardians is a 501(c)(3) IRS approved nonprofit, volunteer organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. We are trying to keep Well Water in Pennsylvania the Keystone State Clean, Healthy, and Safe.
Filed under Children's Health, Groundwater, Homeowner, marcellus shale, Water, Water Testing, Well, Well water testing · Tagged with arsenic, barium, dirty well water, discolored well water, groundwater quality, hazardous drinking water, keystone clean well water, Pennsylvania well owner network, private well class, private well owner, saline water, Water Testing, well water quality, well water testing, wellowner education