Testing wells for contaminants is cheap and efficient - arsenic, bacteria

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12/29/2006 4:00:00 AM Email this article • Print this article

Testing wells for contaminants is cheap and efficient

By DOUG COOK

The Daily Courier

http://prescottdailycourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1 & SubSectionID=1 & ArticleID=42\

344 & TM=25466.35

CHINO VALLEY ‹ Although treating private water wells for contaminants is

expensive for consumers, testing water sources for bacteria and arsenic is

often cheap and efficient.

On the heels of this past week's news that about 250 customers of Wilhoit

Water Co. who live in Chino Valley were drinking unsafe, arsenic-laden

water from the company's well, other private well users in the tri-city

area wondered if they should be concerned about contamination.

Arsenic occurs naturally in groundwater when it leaches and erodes out of

rock and other geologic features. The Environmental Protection Agency

reports that, over time, drinking water with unsafe levels of arsenic can

cause lung and bladder cancer as well as skin damage and circulatory

disorders.

Bradshaw Mountain Diagnostic Lab, 990 Willow Creek Road in Prescott, for

example, offers a $20 kit to those who want to test their wells for E.

coli and coliform bacteria.

After disinfecting and rinsing out one's kitchen sink with chlorine

bleach, the test-taker fills a lab-provided, 100-milliliter sterile

container with tap water. When the container is full, the test-taker

delivers the sample to the lab, which needs 24 hours to determine the

results. The lab makes those results available the next business day.

However, Bradshaw Mountain Lab technician J.J. Oakley said that no lab in

the tri-city area performs testing for arsenic, even though his lab sells

home-test kits at $15 each. He added that Legend Technical, a

Phoenix-based lab, performs expert arsenic testing, but at a high price.

Russ Radden, program coordinator for natural resources at the University

of Arizona's ative Extension Service in Prescott, has participated

in a nine-year community outreach program designed to help residents test

for arsenic in water.

" We try to help people deal with the problem, " Radden said.

Two years ago the ative Extension Service began distributing, as a

public service, an on-site test kit that costs a few dollars and

determines whether a well is contaminated. The kit tests for five

parameters, including pH, nitrates, nitrites, hardness and alkalinity in

water. Radden said that although the test does not have certification for

legal purposes, it is accurate.

" The only way to be sure (if a well has arsenic) is to invest in these

kits or send the results to a certified lab, which can cost between $50 to

$75, " he said.

Doug , designated manager of the Arizona Remediation Coalition ‹ a

group that educates the state's public and private water companies about

how to treat for arsenic ‹ said treatment options usually are expensive.

The coalition offers seminars and training to water companies on

alternative arsenic treatment methods that are cost effective.

Radden said the equipment necessary to protect a water source from arsenic

contamination costs thousands of dollars. For the system to work well, he

said, customers must monitor the system every three months and replace

filter canisters, often at $500 apiece.

" People planning to live in rural Arizona need to learn how to deal with

the quality of water and getting rid of waste in septic systems, " Radden

said.

said one of the more workable options for smaller water systems

seeking cures for arsenic is point-of-use treatment.

Essentially, each customer would install a device under the sink along one

dedicated line that filters the water of arsenic. Local hardware stores

sell these devices, which run from $100 to $200 apiece.

However, federal law requires the owner of the water company to install

the system and an accompanying filter in every customer's residence.

For more information about arsenic testing and treatment options, call

ADEQ at or the U of A ative Extension office at

445-6590.

Contact the reporter at dcook@...

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