There are a lot of ads and stories on social media that talk about how bad your water might be and all the things that they offer to make it better. I have talked to many people through the years that have a well and don’t even use it for drinking or cooking. I can assure you that most of the water around middle Georgia is safe to drink and use for food preparation.
That doesn’t mean you should never test your water. I do recommend that anyone with a well have their water tested periodically. UGA Extension offices offer water testing through our Ag Services Lab in Athens. I routinely recommend homeowners and those concerned start with an expanded water test. You can bring us about a quart of water from your kitchen faucet any day of the week.
This test tells you what is in your water, hardness, pH and other factors that might warrant some sort of treatment. I will say that the majority of the water we send off for testing is safe. We do see a lot of water with low pH and water that is soft. Additionally other characteristics of our water make it corrosive to metal. This is where I tell you that our bodies are tougher than steel because we can consume this water with no adverse effects.
The corrosiveness is not as easy on any metal pieces and parts of your plumbing, fixtures or appliances. The low pH and corrosiveness can almost always be corrected by installing a calcium and magnesium-based filter system.
Another common concern we hear about is bacteria. We can test the presence of E.coli and coliform bacteria. There are special instructions and a test kit so make sure you contact us first. If you ever have work done on your well, you lose pressure at the well, or you have an unexpected occupant in you well house you could have these bacteria present.
Basically, these bacteria and other bad microorganisms will only be present if the contamination comes from above. The worst problem would be a cracked casing that would need to be replaced to keep surface water out. Water pooling around the well head can increase chances of contamination and any time pumps, pipes or equipment are contacted by something at the surface.
If this occurs you can shock chlorinate the water to kill any bacterial contamination. If you have any gastrointestinal issues, it would be good to test the water to be on the safe side. If bacteria are present, you would shock chlorinate the well and then retest to make sure the contamination was cleaned up. There are a lot of other things that we can test for and that you can learn about your water. If you want to read up on household water quality, you can search UGA household water quality or follow this link. http://aesl.ces.uga.edu/publications/watercirc/
We are also here to answer questions and concerns so contact your County Agent.
