Is Well Water Safe To Drink?
My son and I were at the farmer’s market on a hot day and got very thirsty. Since we’d run out of our filtered tap water that we always carry around in our stainless-steel bottles, when one of our favorite sellers offered us his well water, we accepted. He even described it as “pristine” because it was from his private well. Although the water didn’t smell or taste bad, I had many questions racing through my head. Yet, I kept them to myself. It just didn’t seem right to undermine the seller’s generosity and my son’s enjoyment of his water.
Do you know that well water is not that uncommon? As a matter of fact, about 15% of US households drink private well water (source). In this post, you will learn whether your private well water is safe to drink. You will also learn about possible water contaminants, their origin and health risks as well as how to make your well water safe to drink.
Is Well Water Safe To Drink?
To begin, there are two types of drinking water: surface water and ground water. You can learn what type of water you drink by looking at your water district’s annual water quality report. By law, every water district in the US must provide an annual report as to its water quality. And to post it online. It won’t take you long to find.
Well water, specifically, is 100% ground water. The major difference between municipal tap water and private well water is that the latter is not regulated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In other words, it is the sole responsibility of private well owners to check their water quality regularly.
It is important to know that the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 differentiates between two terms:
- maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG) and
- maximum contaminant level (MCL).
The difference is that the MCLG (goal) reflects the level at which no adverse health effects are expected. And the MCL is set as close to the health goals as possible, considering the variables (e.g., cost, benefits, treatment technologies).
Neither surface water nor ground water (or partially ground water, because sometimes water is blended) is void of contaminants. In fact, both surface water and ground water have various common contaminants.
Common Contaminants In Well Water
First off, the EPA emphasizes that no well water can be assumed to be free of contaminants. In the table below, you can see common water contaminants and their sources (according to the CDC).
Potential Well Water Contaminants | Source of Contaminants |
arsenic, radon, uranium | naturally occurring or by-products of industrial or agricultural activities |
pesticides, herbicides, dangerous bacteria from animal manure | runoff from agriculture |
PFAS, flame retardants | manufacturing processes |
bacteria, viruses, and parasites | malfunctioning wastewater treatment systems |
сoliform bacteria | sewer overflows due to failed septic tanks |
Furthermore, in 2016, scientists tested twenty wells in Cape Cod, MA, and discovered the following substances:
- 12 pharmaceuticals
- 5 perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
- 4 organophosphate flame retardants, and even
- The artificial sweetener “acesulfame.”
Let’s talk about some of the most common contaminants in well water.
Arsenic In Private Well Water
For starters, according to the EPA, arsenic is a toxic element that is unevenly distributed in soil, rocks, and minerals. And occurs both naturally in the environment and as a by-product of some agricultural and industrial activities. In drinking water, arsenic can appear through the ground or as runoff into surface water sources.
The maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG) for arsenic is 0 parts per billion (ppb). In other words, to avoid any negative health effects, the goal is for arsenic not to be in your drinking water at all.
As for the maximum contaminant level (MCL), the EPA lowered the arsenic MCL from 50 ppb to 10 ppb in public water systems. To clarify, this means 10 molecules of arsenic for every 999,999,990 molecules of water (like a few drops of ink in an Olympic-sized swimming pool).
Further, long-term exposure to drinking water with high levels of arsenic (exceeding the EPA’s MCL standard) may lead to:
- skin damage
- stomach and liver issues
- cardiovascular, pulmonary, immunological, neurological, reproductive, and endocrine health effects, and
- an increased risk of getting cancer.
While the users of public water systems can learn about arsenic levels in their water from annual water quality reports, the owners of private supplies of water, including wells, are responsible for maintaining and testing their water themselves.
You can learn more about toxic chemicals in water here.
Uranium In Private Well Water
According to the Connecticut Department of Public Health, uranium is a metal without smell or taste that is naturally present in bedrock throughout the US. It can occur in your well water if the well is drilled into bedrock that has uranium.
Since natural uranium, namely uranium-235 and uranium-238, is not radioactive enough to be useful in nuclear power plants or weapons, its chemical properties in drinking water are of greater concern than its radioactivity. While ingested uranium tends to be eliminated from the body, a small amount gets absorbed and carried through the bloodstream. According to the CDC, long-term exposure to drinking water with high levels of uranium can increase the risk of bone and liver cancers and kidney damage.
Test Your Well Water
The only way to find out if your well has uranium is to test your well water. If you buy a house that has a well or at the time a new well is drilled, it’s a good idea to test your water. Also know that uranium levels in well water may fluctuate. So even if one test shows no problem, it is wise to retest and do it at least once a year.
The maximum contaminant level (MCL) for uranium in drinking water established by the EPA is 30 micrograms per liter (µg/L) (source). This is the maximum permissible level of the contaminant in drinking water. Interestingly, before 1991, it used to be 20 µg/L. The EPA increased the level because it was too costly to remove it from the water. Keep in mind that the MCLG for uranium is zero. And scientific evidence suggests that chronic low-level exposure to it has far-reaching health effects, such as thyroid problems.
To learn more about uranium’s potential health effects, and how I handled uranium in my water, read my blog post What You Can Do About Uranium In Water.
PFAS In Private Well Water
To begin, according to the EPA, per-fluoroalkyl and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large and diverse group of chemicals found in water, soil, and air. Many PFAS consist of long chains of carbon-fluorine bonds. And are environmentally persistent, bioaccumulative, and remain in human bodies for a long time.
Next, exposure to PFAS can lead to several types of health risks, including problems concerning:
- the liver
- the immune system
- the cardiovascular system
- human development (e.g., decreased birth weight)
- suppression of vaccine response, and
- cancer.
Additionally, animal studies for oral exposure to some PFAS have shown health effects involving the thyroid, reproductive organs and tissues. Including the developing fetus, and the kidneys.
In 2022, the EPA dramatically lowered its lifetime health advisories levels (HALs) for such PFASs as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). While in 2016 a combined HAL for two chemicals used to be 70 parts per trillion (ppt), the revised HALs are 0.004 ppt for PFOA and 0.02 ppt for PFOS.
Moreover, the EPA issued first-ever HALs for two other PFAS compounds:
- perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS): 2,000 ppt
- GenX, also called hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA): 10 ppt (source).
Again, testing your water is the only way to know if it contains PFAS. Also know that it’s not enough just to boil water to make it safe to drink. To learn more on this subject, check out my blog post Does Boiling Water Make It Safe To Drink?.
Flame Retardants In Private Well Water
First of all, the EPA expresses its concern about flame retardants as, reportedly, “many flame retardant chemicals can persist in the environment, and studies have shown that some may be hazardous to people and animals” (source).
Thus, in its December 2023 “Draft Risk Evaluation for Flame Retardant TCEP,” the EPA states that it “has used the best available science to preliminarily determine that this chemical poses unreasonable risk to human health and the environment.” Indeed, Tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) has been linked to kidney cancer, reproductive, neurological, developmental, and kidney health effects.
Importantly, TCEP that leaches from products or is released into the environment from manufacturing processes ends up in water, sediment, soil, and dust. In addition, TCEP may leach out of materials in landfills and get into ground water, surface water, and air.
Additionally, the fire retardants used to stop wildfires also go into the ground. And may potentially re-appear in your well water. Hence, testing your water is critical.
To learn about other flame retardants used in your house products, refer to my blog post Are Organic Mattresses Worth It?.
How To Know If Well Water Is Safe To Drink
As you can see, well water is not protected from numerous contaminants. The only way to know which contaminants your well water may contain is to test your water.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), testing your well water every spring (at a minimum) is a good idea. They suggest consulting your local health department about local contaminants of concern. Specifically, state and local health or environmental departments test for nitrates, total coliforms, fecal coliform bacteria, pH, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Also, health or environmental departments should have a list of the licensed labs in your area that test for a variety of substances.
Consider the following options for testing your water:
- find a lab
- use My Tap Score water testing kits (email me for a 10% discount code)
- turn to Clean Water Revival professionals (iWEBB22 discount code for 3% off).
Finding A Lab
Locate your local “Cooperative Extension Service” by typing that phrase in the search engine together with your county and state. They will direct you to accredited laboratories that will run tests for you. The cost may range from as low as $20 for a single contaminant to several hundred dollars for a more comprehensive report.
Using My Tap Score
My Tap Score is an independent water testing laboratory that offers various water testing kits that you can use yourself (email me for a 10% discount code). Thus, I’ve used their home test kits many times for both tap water and filtered water. (Learn more about what filtered water is here.) The way it works is that you draw the water and send it to them. And they mail you back a comprehensive report. Easy!
I appreciate the fact that the minimal detectable levels at My Tap Score are low. Which means that even tiny amounts of chemicals – way below government standards – will show up on your test results. To me, this provides an extra level of comfort. Also, I like that your My Tap Score test report will tell you how concerned you should be about the contaminants.
My Tap Score well water testing types are grouped as essential, advanced, and extended with prices ranging from $195 to $810 (email me for a 10% discount code). You can learn more about what analytes get tested in each category in my blog post How To Test Your Water Quality At Home.
Clean Water Revival
First off, the founder of Clean Water Revival, Dr. Speiser, holds degrees in biology, biochemistry, bacteriology, and biomechanical engineering. Dr. Speiser formed the company nearly 25 years ago after he noticed a correlation between groundwater pollution and cancer when treating his patients as a holistic healthcare practitioner. You can learn more about what happened next on their website.
Bottom line, working with Clean Water Revival is the most effective way to address your water issues (use the discount code iWEBB22 for 3% off). They customize water filtration systems based on the contaminants in your water. For municipal tap water, they read the annual water quality report to determine which contaminants are present in your water. For private well water, they can help you decide on a testing kit for your location. Hence, they would like to talk to you.
How To Make Well Water Safe To Drink
As I have mentioned, while boiling water can help with dangerous bacteria, it is not going to eliminate the contaminants we discussed above. Learn more about that in my post Does Boiling Water Make It Safe To Drink?.
Disinfection and filtration can help you make your water safe to drink. Let’s talk about these two methods more.
Well Water Disinfection
According to the CDC, chlorine and chloramine are two major disinfectants used in public water systems.
First: chlorine is added to drinking water to kill parasites, bacteria, and viruses. Reportedly, chlorine levels up to 4 milligrams per liter (mg/L) (or 4 parts per million (ppm)) are considered safe in drinking water (source). Chlorinated water can smell or taste different from untreated water.
Second: chloramine is added to drinking water to disinfect it and kill germs. Chloramines are a group of chemical compounds that contain chlorine and ammonia. Chloramine levels up to 4 milligrams per liter (mg/L) (or 4 parts per million (ppm)) are considered safe in drinking water (source). As for the smell or taste of your water, water treated with chloramine has less of a “chlorine” taste and smell than water treated with chlorine.
As an alternative to chlorine and chloramine, consider this Pure Effect Ultra-UC Disinfect water filter system for disinfection. It’s an under-the-sink water filtration unit that has an optional UV-LED water module that effectively disinfects water for a wide range of viruses, bacteria, and other germs.
Well Water Filtration
First off, I have a blog post called Best Water Filter System For You where I talk about various water filters. Including some I really like, and about Berkey and Aquasana, which are not my favorites, among other things. Specifically, based on many years of research, I consider the following two companies to be leaders in the field of water filtration:
Pure Effect
A small family-owned business located in Colorado, Pure Effect offers multi-stage water filtration systems. One of the advantages of these water filtration systems is that they do not use Reverse Osmosis (RO). This is a good thing because RO removes all minerals from the water. Including beneficial ones, such as magnesium and calcium.
In addition, Pure Effect filtration systems do not store filtered water in plastic tanks (unlike Reverse Osmosis water filters).
Plus, this is the most powerful carbon filtration system I have found. Specifically, in our kitchen, we use a Pure Effect Ultra-UC Disinfect water filter system. As a matter of fact, I tested our tap water after it was filtered by the Pure Effect filter system to confirm that it removes uranium to undetectable levels.
Learn more about Pure Effect and my history with them in my post Pure Effect Water Filtration Systems.
Clean Water Revival
Like Pure Effect, Clean Water Revival is a family-owned business located in Florida. They will customize a water filtration system for you based on the contaminants in your well water. To find out which contaminants are present in your water, they will suggest a testing kit. But first, please call them so they can choose a testing kit for you depending on the location of your private well.
Ultimately, Clean Water Revival (CWR) will help you choose the best water filtration solution for your water among the filters they make and sell. Specifically, they will:
- go over your water test results free of charge and help you decide which water filtration system you need based on the contaminants in your water;
- help you choose the right water filter depending on where you live; and
- assist you in finding a licensed plumber to install the system they will sell to you.
You can learn more about them in my post Easy Solution For Water Filtration.
Summary: Is Well Water Safe To Drink?
Without Disinfection And Filtration, Well Water Is Not Safe To Drink As It May Contain Numerous Contaminants.
In sum, due to runoff from agriculture, manufacturing processes, sewer overflows due to failed septic tanks, malfunctioning wastewater treatment systems, and natural causes, your private well water may be contaminated with heavy metals, pesticides, PFAS, flame retardants, dangerous bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Therefore, it is imperative that you make sure that your water is safe to drink by, first, testing it. And second, disinfecting and/or filtering it.
In my opinion, the following two companies are leaders in the field of water filtration:
Personally, I use this Pure Effect Ultra-UC Disinfect water filter system that allows you the option of an added UV-LED water module for maximum disinfection. Also, if you like spring water, read my blog post Is Spring Water Safe To Drink?.
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