So why test for these parameters as opposed to others? Because each of these
will give you knowledge of a specific problem you should correct for health
or economic reasons or provides an indication that a potential
problem that requires further analysis may exist. It’s just not practical
(unless you have huge sums of money) to perform the kind of analysis that water
treatment plants and bottling companies must perform on an ANNUAL basis. Even
these large organizations only perform such thorough testing once a year. The
least expensive, complete battery of tests they are required to perform annually
costs approximately $3,000 to $5,000 to perform. And even these very elaborate
tests do NOT test for all possible water contaminants, so it is possible that
some may slip through.
However, despite the fact that you are not spending thousands of dollars, you
can actually have better water than they provide, and conduct a testing
regime that fits your budget. You will actually save money over purchasing
bottled water all year and will be freed from depending on how effective the
water or sewage treatment plants are at removing contaminants on limited budgets
and with strained facilities. We have developed the following strategy to make
this possible. Lets begin by looking at all the possible water contaminants that
have been identified by scientists and government agencies to date, and some
water treatments specific for organic compounds.
One can group
all known contaminants into the following 6 major groups.
1.
Minerals and metals (inorganic chemicals) – including specific special
concerns
a.
Arsenic (regional), hardness, alkalinity, iron, nitrate, phosphorus,
potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, aluminum, boron, copper, zinc, sodium,
cadmium, nitrogen (all forms), chromium, molybdenum, lead, total chlorine, free
chlorine, chloride, fluoride, phosphate, sulfate, etc.
2.
Physical / chemical quality
a.
pH, temperature, conductivity, total dissolved solids, color, turbidity,
etc.
3.
Biological
a.
Coliforms, e. coli (fecal coliforms), cryptosporidium, giardia, hepatitis
virus, enteric viruses, pseudomonads, salmonella, and non-disease causing but,
filter inactivating / clogging organisms such as the slime producing iron
reducing bacteria (IRB’s) and sulfur reducing bacteria (SRB’s) and organisms
that cause skin disease and swimmers ear” in Jacuzzis and hot tubs and
swimming pools, etc.
4.
Volatile organic compounds (VOC’s)
a.
Includes fuels, fuel additives, industrial solvents, paint thinners,
industrial chemicals, plasticizers, chloroform, acetone, toluene, xylene, and a
variety of chemicals available for home use by the general public, etc. All are
organic, and all will “evaporate”. They can be removed by activated charcoal
filtration and air stripping, but NOT distillation
5.
Non-volatile synthetic organic compounds (SOC’s)
a.
Includes pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, termiticides, fungicides,
etc.,
and many agricultural, gardening, lawn and home care products used freely by
consumers. Activated carbon filters, distillation, or reverse osmosis will
remove them.
6.
Radiological (radioactive)
a.
Are generally caused by high levels of uranium in the soil. If you have
reason to suspect this kind of contamination, let us know and we will help you
with obtaining the testing you need. Area geological studies will often help you
determine whether this should even be a concern to you. In most places it is
NOT, but if you have radon in the air in your home, or you have any doubt, you should definitely
test your water for radioactive substances.
Some of these groups actually contain thousands of compounds, but this is how they are presented on laboratory analysis reports to the
agencies requesting the tests. There
are many specific compounds in each group that have not been listed
individually, but all known contaminants of water are contained in one of the
above. Each of these headings can further be broken down into smaller groups,
but for our purposes this covers all the known contaminants that are typically
found to be of health or economic concern to the average homeowner.
If you test and treat properly for all the compounds in these groups you will be
certain to have pure, safe, and healthy water. And this is simpler and less
expensive than you might believe. All it requires is a good analysis and
purification strategy. One without the other will either increase the cost or
reduce your water quality. If you are not very interested in why this works, now
would be a good time to skip to the last paragraph on this page. If you would
like to understand how this works, please read on. And please note that every
scrap of information on this site is supported by years of scientific studies
and data from the most prestigious research institutions, government and private
watchdog organizations, and public health institutions in the world. They
include, but are not limited to the National Institutes of Health, the World
Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control, the National Academy of
Sciences, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Environmental Protection
Divisions, the Department of Agriculture, the United States Geological Survey,
and literally scores of others both national and international.
VOC’s (#4 above) and SOC’s
(#5 above)
should be a serious concern to anyone drinking water today. They have been found
in surface and ground water virtually everywhere in North America where there
has been any agricultural or gardening activity. They are also some of the most
expensive compounds to test for and there are literally thousands of different
compounds (the EPA lists over 100), so testing for each one is out of the
question even for government agencies. They test for the most likely
contaminants in a given area and even then it costs hundreds to thousands of
dollars. The great thing about these compounds is that they can be removed by
activated carbon filtration and activated carbon filtration technology is very
affordable. So why test for them? Just install an activated carbon filtration
system and make sure it is operating properly (is not being fouled by biological
agents - IRB’s, SRB’s, Slime bacteria or being inactivated by chemicals). If
your water has already been processed once, such as water coming from a
municipal water treatment plant, the activated carbon can also help remove small
amounts of the chlorine that remain in the water due to their processing
activities and any organic contaminants that the water picks up during its
journey through the public distribution system and to your home. Selecting the
best brand / type and proper maintenance of the filtration system is very
important, and periodic testing to insure the integrity of the system is also
important, but in this case you do not need to know which contaminant is present
to take appropriate measures to remove it. Most public water systems use this
very same approach.
Biological contaminants
(#3 above) are generally not tested for directly. Again, the
expense is prohibitive. But coliforms and fecal coliforms are an accepted way of
testing water for contamination by fecal material, and therefore determining
whether disease causing (pathogenic) bacteria, viruses, or protozoans (such as
giardia or “crypto”) are likely to be present in the water. Groundwater (wells)
and surface water supply sources are constantly changing as new chemicals added
to the soil find their way down into the water table, and changing recharge and
withdrawal rates from aquifers cause changes in underground water flow
directions. Since biological contamination is one of the most likely routes of
transmitting disease to man, the EPA has seen fit to require municipal water and
sewage treatment systems to test water leaving their facilities from once or
twice daily to hundreds of times daily, depending on how many people they serve.
The EPA recommends that private well and water systems test their water at least
once a year. We recommend semiannual testing – preferably in spring and fall,
because these are the most likely times for major water table fluctuations.
Ok,
so you’ve tested for coliforms and fecal coliforms twice a year, and you have a
good activated carbon filter to remove organic contaminants. Your water must be
safe now! Well, maybe. If you have substantial growth of bacteria in the system,
they will “clog”, “coat”, and inactivate your filtration system. Water flow may
not be reduced dramatically even if the active surface of the filter is
completely covered by bacteria, and the filter is being “blocked” from serving
its purpose. On the first round of testing, and every 3 to 5 years thereafter,
it is a good idea to test for slime producing SRB’s and IRB’s. Their removal
will insure proper filter operation and very often their presence goes unnoticed
until a “rotten egg” odor or slime appears in and on plumbing etc. By this time
they have produced a biofilm on all internal surfaces of the plumbing that is
impossible to remove completely. It is best to test for them within a few months
of establishing a new water supply, then, if the results are positive, chlorine
shock the system properly to kill all the organisms, and prevent further
problems. For additional information, please refer to other resources on our web
site – www.awsa.info.
This leaves us with #1 and #2 from the list above.
If any of the mineral or metal contaminants fall outside normal or acceptable
range, they require a unique solution to correct, so it is important to test for
them individually. Mercury and several other toxic substances have been omitted
from this list only to keep costs as low as possible, yet still test for the
most likely problems. We have very carefully chosen a group of contaminants
(test parameters) to include in our initial testing and rapid screen
testing, that will provide the information needed to determine whether or not a
purification device (or system) is needed and to PROPERLY design such a
purification system if one is needed. We cannot tell you how many of our clients
have installed "water softening" or treatment systems they did not need. Please,
consult a water quality professional to determine whether or not you need any
purification and to determine whether
there is any heightened risk in your area for any particular contaminant due to
past or current industrial or agricultural activity. In the North Georgia area,
for example, arsenic is
known to occur naturally in the sediments and groundwater in certain areas, and to have been
used agriculturally in some places. So this is a compound that should be tested
for in those areas (Ex. many counties in Georgia). Mercury has been used in gold
mining and other industrial activities, so water supplies in those areas should
be tested for that element. Asbestos mining has also been conducted in this
area. And so forth.
The same thing is true for radiological contamination
(# 6 above). For obvious reasons, your
best resources in these cases are independent companies outside government who
are on the cutting edge of analysis and purification technology. 1) They are not
bound by what their particular agency wants the public
to know, and 2) they do not sell a product that will help you remove the
offending contaminant, and 3) they will be able to draw information from a much
broader array of reliable sources and not be confined to providing the
information their particular agency gives them.
Finally
(# 2 above), physical / chemical quality pH, temperature, conductivity, total
dissolved solids, color, turbidity. These parameters reflect changes in
biological, mineral, and metal contaminants without testing for them
individually. Thus, they are excellent “screening” tools that allow one to
assess if there have been any major changes in the source water supply, without
the expense of testing for all the individual contaminants. If these tests are
performed at the same time as the mineral and metal testing (initial testing),
then they can be used as baseline values for future physical / chemical tests.
That is, this can make more routine water testing affordable for the average
person, by providing warning that something in their water has changed, without
necessarily testing for each individual chemical and identifying the specific
change. This is much cheaper than running the full gamut of biological, mineral,
metal, and chemical tests each time. Yes, it is a tradeoff, but in our
professional judgment it is better than NO testing because it gives warning that
a serious change has occurred since the last tests, and alerts us to conduct
individual tests to determine what has changed.
We therefore suggest that you have the “complete” series of inorganic chemical
and physical tests, the coliform, E. coli (fecal coliform), IRB, and SRB testing
performed initially. Follow up with the rapid screen on a semi-annual or annual basis
($98.00) and install an activated carbon filtration unit to remove SOC’s and
VOC’s. You should also consult a professional to be sure that you have the best
advice concerning any additional testing. If you do these things, take
corrective action if you have abnormal values in any of the tested parameters,
maintain your purification system properly, then you will save money by
1) not needing to purchase bottled water (even if you purchase purification
equipment and perform routine testing), 2) avoiding health risks to fetus, baby and
family, 3) avoiding premature replacement of water heaters, pumps, and plumbing,
4) saving energy and 5) saving cost on cleaning products, and you will know you are
drinking the best water you can get anywhere.
For more details please read
on:
Of course the only sure way to know what your water contains is to perform
continuous monitoring of all possible contaminants or perform continuous
purification for all possible contaminants and perform continuous monitoring of
the purified water. For everyone, including the government, this has been deemed
to be impractical because of the labor and expense. So it’s pretty simple to see
that an alternative method must be chosen.
The first test should include
the complete series shown above (I, II, III, IV, and V).
Testing in subsequent YEARS (as the EPA recommends) usually only requires an
annual Rapid Screen ($98.00) or annual Coliform and E. coli ($35.00)
(depends on what level of safety you prefer). Without the complete series
determining which purification technology, if any, would be best is simply a
guess. With results from the whole series, it is possible to provide you with
recommendations on exactly what kind of purification system or filters you
should use to purify your water to levels exceeding municipal, bottled, or raw
well water quality. You may not need any purification devices. If so, we tell
you. We do not sell any! But if you do, we can then guarantee your water to be
free of all EPA listed toxic contaminants at your tap unless the system
fails or is not maintained properly. Consumer reports say the average family
would save over $300.00 per year on bottled water alone, and you would have
complete personal control over your family’s water quality!
Notice the biofilm that has formed on the
inside of the bottle above. This is what happens to your purification /
filtration system and plumbing if it is left untreated. This was a sample
collected from a client's well and left standing in a refrigerator for several
weeks. It was clear and uncolored when it was collected.
Leftmost is a culture tube just after addition
of a water sample. Notice the water is clear and the residue at bottom is
sterile "food"
to allow for growth of bacteria if they are present. The middle tube shows iron
reducing bacteria after only 3 days incubation. The rightmost tube shows the
deposits left by sulfur reducing bacteria that were obtained in a sample from a
household well after 13 days incubation. Note that both the positive tubes had
clear liquid at the start. All discoloration and a visible deposit is just what
happens in your well, plumbing, and purification system if these bacteria are
present.
We are not connected with any government agency, or regulatory entity.
Appalachian Water and Soil Analysis, Inc.
The Only Independent Water
Treatment Professionals in North Georgia - 
