12/29/2006 4:00:00 AM Testing wells for contaminants is cheap and efficient
By DOUG COOK The Daily Courier
CHINO VALLEY ‹ Although treating private water wells for contaminants is expensive for consumers, testing water sources for bacteria and arsenic is often cheap and efficient.
On the heels of this past week's news that about 250 customers of Wilhoit Water Co. who live in Chino Valley were drinking unsafe, arsenic-laden water from the company's well, other private well users in the tri-city area wondered if they should be concerned about contamination.
Arsenic occurs naturally in groundwater when it leaches and erodes out of rock and other geologic features. The Environmental Protection Agency reports that, over time, drinking water with unsafe levels of arsenic can cause lung and bladder cancer as well as skin damage and circulatory disorders.
Bradshaw Mountain Diagnostic Lab, 990 Willow Creek Road in Prescott, for example, offers a $20 kit to those who want to test their wells for e-Coli and coliform bacteria.
After disinfecting and rinsing out one's kitchen sink with chlorine bleach, the test-taker fills a lab-provided, 100-milliliter sterile container with tap water. When the container is full, the test-taker delivers the sample to the lab, which needs 24 hours to determine the results. The lab makes those results available the next business day.
However, Bradshaw Mountain Lab technician J.J. Oakley said that no lab in the tri-city area performs testing for arsenic, even though his lab sells home-test kits at $15 each. He added that Legend Technical, a Phoenix-based lab, performs expert arsenic testing, but at a high price.
Russ Radden, program coordinator for natural resources at the University of Arizona's Cooperative Extension Service in Prescott, has participated in a nine-year community outreach program designed to help residents test for arsenic in water.
"We try to help people deal with the problem," Radden said.
Two years ago the Cooperative Extension Service began distributing, as a public service, an on-site test kit that costs a few dollars and determines whether a well is contaminated. The kit tests for five parameters, including pH, nitrates, nitrites, hardness and alkalinity in water. Radden said that although the test does not have certification for legal purposes, it is accurate.
"The only way to be sure (if a well has arsenic) is to invest in these kits or send the results to a certified lab, which can cost between $50 to $75," he said.
Doug Nelson, designated manager of the Arizona Remediation Coalition ‹ a group that educates the state's public and private water companies about how to treat for arsenic ‹ said treatment options usually are expensive. The coalition offers seminars and training to water companies on alternative arsenic treatment methods that are cost effective.
Radden said the equipment necessary to protect a water source from arsenic contamination costs thousands of dollars. For the system to work well, he said, customers must monitor the system every three months and replace filter canisters, often at $500 apiece.
"People planning to live in rural Arizona need to learn how to deal with the quality of water and getting rid of waste in septic systems," Radden said.
Nelson said one of the more workable options for smaller water systems seeking cures for arsenic is point-of-use treatment.
Essentially, each customer would install a device under the sink along one dedicated line that filters the water of arsenic. Local hardware stores sell these devices, which run from $100 to $200 apiece.
However, federal law requires the owner of the water company to install the system and an accompanying filter in every customer's residence.
For more information about arsenic testing and treatment options, call ADEQ at 602-771-4644 or the U of A Cooperative Extension office at 445-6590.
