Growings On: Consider having your well water tested

Published 8:00 am Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Even though the water looks clean and clear when it comes out of the faucet, it may not be safe to drink. City water is tested regularly and treated if needed to ensure it is within the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 regulations, so safety isn’t really a factor.

If you are on a private well, the water is not monitored unless you choose to test it, and there are no specific regulations for quality in private wells. You should test your well every year for bacteria, nitrates, pH and minerals but especially after a heavy rainstorm that can potentially change the level of the water table. Regular testing is also important to establish a baseline of both quality and safety, in case anything changes in the future.

While a properly constructed and maintained well should give safe water for many years, it is always possible that surface contaminants can enter the well, things like surface stormwater runoff, bacteria, etc. Taste, odor and color/clarity of your water will give you an idea of its quality but not whether it is safe/unsafe to drink. Whenever a new well is drilled or an old well is brought back into regular service it’s important to have it tested. Especially if it’s a well that has been sitting unused for a long period of time.

No single test will provide all the information you are looking for but there are two that will give you some straightforward answers. The first is a basic water chemistry test which will give mineral levels, water hardness and pH. This is a handy test to see if you need a water softener or filter on your well system. The other is a microbiology test which will test for E. coli and total coliforms to ensure your well water is safe to drink.

For more information on testing your well, see https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=C858-2 or contact Brenda Jackson, agricultural and natural resources agent for Murray County Extension, at (706) 695-3031 or bljack@uga.edu.