How To Take A Water Sample
Water may appear clear and pure, but water from wells or other sources may contain dissolved minerals and other substances. Generally, Indiana’s ground water provides a good supply of safe water that doesn’t need much treatment. Indiana has approximately half a million private wells. If you are a private well owner, you need to test your water supply to insure the well supplies safe, high quality water
With the advice of your county Health Department or Cooperative Extension office, decide what tests are needed for your water supply. The WQ bulletin “Why Test Your Water?”, available at your extension office, may be helpful in determining which tests to run. After selecting the tests, choose a lab to test the samples. See WQ 1, “Water Testing Laboratories” for the location of labs that test water from private wells.
Steps required for taking a water sample will vary for different tests. Timeliness and cleanliness are important when collecting any water sample. Use the sterile collection bottles the lab sends you and not your own bottles to take a sample. Labs often will only accept samples taken in their collection bottles. Also complete all the forms the lab requires to process the sample.
A water sample needs to be submitted to the lab within 48 hours of collection. In some cases it must be kept cold prior to testing. Care must be taken to prevent anything but the water from contacting the inside of the bottle or the cap. Contaminants are often present in small amounts. Careless sampling prevents accurate test results.
For most water tests, follow these steps when collecting a sample:
Take the sample close to the pump, before the water goes through a treatment system.
Do not take the sample from a swing-type faucet.
Inspect the faucet for leaks. Select another faucet if there is leaking.
Remove the aerator.
Disinfect the faucet with bleach or a flame.
Run the water several minutes to clear the line.
Take the sample midstream.
Do not touch the sides of the collection bottle, the opening or inside of the cap.
If needed, store the sample in the refrigerator before taking to the lab.
Submit the sample within 48 hours of collection.
Transport the sample in a cooler or ship in an insulated container.
Free Drinking Water Analysis for Residents
The safety of your home’s water supply is crucial to your family’s health and well-being. Particularly when used for drinking, your water needs to be clean, clear and free from harmful contamination.
Water Safety
Many potentially harmful microscopic organisms and dissolved inorganic substances could be lurking in your water, whether it comes from a well or from your city’s water supply. Particularly if you live within five miles of a gas station, factory, farm or cemetery or if you have a septic system/leach field on your property, you are more likely to find certain substances in your drinking water that not only do not promote health but, in fact, do just the opposite. Agricultural and industrial waste products, pesticides, human and animal wastes can all contaminate groundwater, making water supplies less-than-safe to drink. Even heavily fertilized lawns can contribute to the problem of groundwater contamination.
Several of the worst water contamination offenders, which can harm human health but are easily detected through high-quality water testing, follow:
Coliform bacteria
Nitrate (in high concentrations)
Lead and other toxic metals
Arsenic (a metalloid)
Complimentary Water Analysis
An experienced Aqua water evaluation consultant will visit your home and carefully collect a specimen for analysis. The complimentary water analysis we use will detect many contaminants the presence of which can alert you to the need for water treatment. The certified evaluation results we provide will arm you with the knowledge you need to select the water-treatment system that will rid your water of the unhealthy contaminants it harbors. Whether you opt to use one of our water filtration systems to remove contamination or our analysis gives your water a clean bill of health, you’ll have the peace of mind of knowing your water is safe.
Commitment to Water Quality
neighbors use for drinking, cooking, dishwashing and personal hygiene. We feel you have a right to know exactly what’s in the water you use every day. That’s the most important reason we offer complimentary water testing. It’s also one of the many ways we partner with you to raise the quality of life your family enjoys, bringing your home that much closer to becoming the haven of health and comfort that it was intended to be
Well Water Testing DIY To Advanced Lab Testing
I get into specific potential contaminants to consider testing for as well as Do It Yourself testing versus using a certified and licensed analytical laboratory. I hope you find this episode useful and informative.
Well Water Testing Topics Covered:
Well water testing do it yourself
When to get lab water tests done
Reasons why one should test their well water
The advantage of do-it-yourself test kits
Figuring out what your potential contamination sources are
Different types of contaminants for which to test
How to self-test for water hardness
In this podcast series I give easy-to-follow tips and information all about well systems, well water quality, well water treatment systems, and how to improve quality of your well water. In this podcast, we’re going over well water testing. Basically, reasons why you should test your well water periodically, what to test for, how often should I test my well water, when to use a certified lab versus doing it yourself, and a test you can do yourself today at home without any test kit and get the basic idea of one of the parameters of your water.
Importance of Well Water Testing
So you might ask, “Why should I test my water?” well, if you think about it municipal city water systems test their water routinely, regularly. They’re on top of it, making sure the water is safe and that they’re required too anyway. But there’s no requirement to test a private well, except when you first have it drilled or maybe you’re refinancing your home and they know you’re on a private well and they might want to a basic test for bacteria, perhaps nitrate, and few other things.
But the government isn’t going to come after you to make you test your well water and situations can change over the years. Perhaps your well was safe at one time but now it’s contaminated but you don’t know it because you can’t smell or taste the contaminant. So it’s a good idea there’s just a few basic things you should test for on a regular basis. The decision on what to test for is really based on the types of land you use in your well and what your goals are.
PRIVATE DRINKING WATER WELLS & SYSTEMS
It is the responsibility of the private water well owner to sample and have their well water tested. The State of Alaska, Drinking Water Program, does not sample, test, or regulate the construction of private drinking water wells. In fact, the only local governments that regulate and have established standards for private water wells
Also, it’s important to note that while the DEC-Division of Water requires minimum separation distances for on-site disposal (septic) systems and other potential sources of contamination from private water wells, it is typically enforced only when a septic system is being installed by a certified installer. Therefore, failure to meet or maintain minimum separation distances for new and existing private water wells may only be highlighted during the sale of your home.
Wellhead protection
Maintain proper drainage away from the well; e.g. ensure no standing water around the wellhead.
Make sure the top of the well casing is at least 12 inches above the ground surface, or well house floor, and higher if the area is frequently flooded. Remember “High and Dry”.
Eliminate potential sources of contamination near the wellhead.
Maintain a sanitary seal to minimize the risk of contamination entering the well casing, such as animals seeking shelter.
Well testing
Regularly test your water: at a minimum perform annual nitrate and coliform bacteria analyses, and in certain areas, test for arsenic.
Well records
Well log
Pump test and aquifer test records
Maintenance records for your well or pump
Water test results
Water Rights documentation from DNR
Test Plugs – Helpful Tips
What is the purpose of Test Plugs?
Testing plugs are used to stop pipes and to carry out low pressure testing on many types of pipes, and often this testing is mandatory. In order to meet building regulations any new construction, whether residential or commercial, may require a drain pressure test.
What types of Test Plugs are available?
Bailey Test Plugs are available in two forms, centre lock and rim fastening. Centre locks can be produced in steel/aluminium or nylon to suit the application (rim fasts are only available in steel).
How do you use Test Plugs?
Please note: Testing should be carried out to current Building Regulations
Air Test – Testing Guidelines
Seal pipe section with appropriate size drain test plug. Remove any grease or foreign material from installation point. Ensure no dirt is trapped between seal of plug and plates. Ensure plug is inserted square to pipe wall. Ensure wing nut and sealing cap is tight.
Fit test nipple to one of the drain test plugs.
Connect rubber hose via ‘Y’ piece to nipple, ‘U’ gauge and hand bellows.
Fill ‘U’ gauge with water to ‘zero’.
Squeeze the hand bellows gently until the level reaches 100mm on the open side of the gauge and the lower limit below zero on the closed side. The level should not fall to less than 75mm during period of 5 minutes without further pumping, after allowing a suitable time for stabilization of air temperature. If it drops below 75mm within the specified time the pipe section is leaking.
Water Test – Testing Guidelines
Fit an expanding plug, suitably braced to resist the full hydrostatic head, at the lower end of the pipeline. Also plug any branches. The pipes may need strutting to prevent movement.
Provide a means of applying the test head of water at the top end of the line, preferably using a 90 degree bend and a straight pipe of the same diameter as the line. Ensure that the standpipe and plug are suitably strutted to resist the applied hydrostatic head. Provide a means of filling the pipeline with water.
Fill the system with water keeping pockets of trapped air to a minimum.
Fill the standpipe to the requisite level.
Leave for at least two hours to enable the pipes to become saturated, topping up as necessary.
After the absorption period measure the loss of water from the system by noting the amount needed to maintain the level in the standpipe over a further period of 30 minutes. In carrying out the test to the requirements (please see current Building Regulations), the standpipe should be topped up at regular intervals of 5 minutes and the amounts measured. Seal pipe section with appropriate size drain test plug.