Maintaining a private water well on your land can be a great way to ensure you always have clean, drinkable water to hand, not to mention being a handy way to save on mains water bills. However, taking your water from a private well does mean that it is your responsibility to ensure the water is safe to use, and a number of unseen contaminants can leech into your well water, making your water unpleasant or even dangerous to use and drink. Fortunately, water testing services are able to reliably detect these invisible metals, helping you keep your well water as pure as possible.
What kinds of metals can contaminate my well water?
There are an enormous variety of naturally occurring metals which can leech into your water from the surrounding soil, but not all of them are worth worrying about. Iron contamination, for instance, can taste unpleasant and stain taps and fittings but is otherwise harmless to humans and animals. On the other hand, some metal contaminants can cause serious problems even in trace quantities, so be sure to look out for the following dangerous metals when testing your well water:
- Copper can give your water an unpleasant bitter taste but can also cause gastrointestinal problems, particularly in children.
- Arsenic is a highly toxic, naturally occurring heavy metal, as well as a known carcinogen.
- Nickel is a common contaminant in heavily-mined areas and can cause damage to the kidneys and liver if drunk in large quantities. Certain nickel compounds are also known to be carcinogenic.
- Selenium is an essential mineral important to human health but only in extremely low doses -- higher concentrations in your water can cause serious damage to the organs and circulatory system.
- Lead remains as dangerous as it was to the Romans, causing serious and potentially deadly organ and brain damage over time. Children are particularly vulnerable to lead poisoning.
- Thallium does not occur naturally as an ore but as a water-soluble salt, making it a particularly dangerous contaminant. It is highly toxic even in small doses.
While these metals are among the most dangerous potential contaminants in your well water, this is is not an exhaustive list, so be sure to have your water tested as comprehensively as possible.
How can I make sure my well isn't contaminated with heavy metals?
As with any other form of water contamination, frequent water testing is key to reducing potential harm, and you should have the water in your well tested for heavy metal contamination at least once a year. If you prefer, you can conduct these tests yourself using a home water testing kit. However, even the most expensive home testing kits have a somewhat limited scope and may not be able to detect less common metal contaminants. They can also be easily botched if you are not familiar with their use.
To ensure accurate and reliable results you can have your water professionally tested at a commercial water testing lab, either by sending off a sample or having the laboratory send somebody to take water samples themselves. They will be able to use far more rigorous testing methods than those available in home testing kits, such as atomic spectrometry, ensuring that even the tiniest concentrations of metal do not go unnoticed.
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