RUNNING HEAD: Private Well Testing 1

Lab 4: Private Well Testing

ENVL 4300

Ben Brennan

Stockton University
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Private Well Testing

Abstract

In 1974 the Safe Drinking Water Act was passed to ensure drinking water was not
contaminated. The EPA sets safety limits for both primary and secondary water contaminants
based on their affect to the human body. The act however, only requires testing for public
drinking water sources. Private wells follow regulations under the Private Well Testing Act,
where testing is only required during changes in ownership and generally, this in the only time a
test is completed. In New Jersey alone, hundreds of thousands of people are potentially exposed
to contaminated drinking waters because they have a private, untested well. In the report, the
population in Burlington County New Jersey is studied in order to determine if private drinking
water should be mandatory to test.
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Objectives

Show why there should be mandatory well testing for all states by providing examples from
Burlington County New Jersey.

Discussion

In order to test water quality effectively, the most common contaminants in the area must be
known. Well testing can be quite expensive and if you do not know the most important
contaminants to look for, you could be wasting money on pointless tests. Along with determining
the contaminants in the area, the classification is just as important. The EPA divides water
contaminants in to two classifications: primary and secondary. A primary contaminant is toxic to
all living things when consumed and need to be addressed because health issues will arise. A
secondary contaminant are nuisance parameters such as iron, chlorine, and copper, will not harm
an individual, but can cause water to look, smell and/ or taste different (Secondary 2019).

In order to show how private wells are affected in in Burlington County be primary and
secondary contaminants, data from New Jersey’s Division of Water Supply and Geoscience was
reviewed and compiled (Geodata 2019). From the data, Burlington Counties private water testing
sites are shown below in the map (Figure 1). Also represented in the map, in red, are the
contaminated sites found by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
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Private Well Testing

Figure 1: Map of Burlington County Showing Private wells tested (in green) and contaminated
sites found by NJDEP (in red).

Using the results from the well testing done by the NJDEP, the data is compared to the
Burlington County well testing from the New Jersey Private Well Testing Act Data Summery
report (MAP 2019). Based on the exceedances found in the PWTA (Table 1), the same
contaminants are looked for in the NJDEP test results. A major concern in well testing is shown
on this map. None of the PWTA’s testing locations showed any trace of Mercury, however, the
sites in red found by the DEP are Mercury contaminated sites. This should be used as further
proof to testing individual wells and not relying on a general location contaminants test.
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Table 1.

New Jersey Private Well Testing Act Data Summary of Burlington County (on left). This chart
shows the contaminants found to be over the limits set by the EPA in private drinking water wells
(National 2019). On the right are the results from the NJDEP well testing data.

Comparing the two sources, the results are quite different, and both a cause for concern.
However, in the PWTA’s testing it is stated that Arsenic is not mandatory to be tested, this
information is outdated. The important information for Burlington County is that three of the 5
Primary drinking water contaminants found once in the area were not found in any tests by the
NJDEP. The three not found are Nitrate, Gross Alpha particles and Mercury (National 2019).
This only leaves two primary contaminate concerns in the area from Fecal coliform, Arsenic, and
Dichloroethane (a VOC compound). The only tests that show many cities above regulated limits
regularly are Manganese and low pH. These secondary contaminants have no effect on the
consumer, but excess manganese will turn water a dark color and low pH will have a bitter taste
(Secondary 2019). Having results that come back with little to no harmful contaminants is the
best case, but this can backfire on occasion. By not finding excess amounts of harmful agents in
areas, people begin to think testing is unnecessary and will in turn risk their lives. By having
most common contaminants conveniently shown to the residents by the PWTA, it causes private
well owners to have a sense of confidence in their wells safety.
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Although it seems obvious to test for potentially harmful and life threatening contaminants in
the drinking water, some are completely against having their water tested. If the federal or state
government is not required to pay for the private well testing, many home owners will have an
issue paying for the required tests. Depending on the list of contaminants in your area and how
many are required to be tested for, it can cost up to $650 (NJDEP 2019). In the best case scenario,
this testing cost would be reduced or taken care of by the state under the new Private Well Testing
Act, but there is no say as of now. Another argument taken by those who do not want well testing
are those who believe in their rights and complete freedom. There are arguments to be made about
not wanted your “owned” ground water regulated. This is going to be an uncommon counter
argument, however, every property issue involving federal and state jurisdiction needs to address
this issue.

Conclusion

Based on the amount of contaminants that are harmful to the human body and the amount that
can be found in any county alone, it is obvious why there should be a call for mandatory well
testing. The information presented is for just one county in New Jersey. The Number of
contaminated water sites continues to grow and all of New Jersey already has its water impacted.
Through the provided state testing it is easy to see the most common contaminants in the area you
live and can narrow the list of important contaminants to test for. The common contaminants list
needs to be used as a guideline and not as an excuse to not have water tested if no major threats
are found already in your area, the best example of that are the contaminated sites not tested by
the NJDEP on figure 1 shown in red. There can be sites contaminated right next door to safe water.
Examples of this need to be shown to the public to help show the necessity for private well testing.
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References
Map Series. (2019). Retrieved from
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=826ec9fae77543caa582a787d5f088e

NJDEP. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.state.nj.us/dep/watersupply/pwta/pwta_faq.htm#1q5

Geodata. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.state.nj.us/dep/njgs/geodata/dgs05-2.htm

Secondary Drinking Water Standards: Guidance for Nuisance Chemicals. (2017, March 08). Retrieved
from https://www.epa.gov/dwstandardsregulations/secondary-drinking-water-standards-guidance-
nuisance-chemicals

National Primary Drinking Water Regulations. (2019). Retrieved from

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-06/documents/npwdr_complete_table.pdf