Allison Roderick has a warning and a promise for rural residents in her county: Their well water might be contaminated, but the government can help make it safe.
Roderick is the environmental health officer for Webster County in north-central Iowa, where several thousand rural residents live among vast fields of corn and soybeans. Many draw their water from private wells, which are exempt from most federal testing and purity regulations. Roderick says they are not without danger.
More than 43 million Americans rely on private wells, which are subject to a host of state and local regulations, including rules for new construction. But in most cases, residents are free to use outdated wells without having to test or inspect them. The practice is common despite concerns about runoff from farms and industrial sites, as well as cancer-causing minerals that can contaminate groundwater.
“You’re cooking with it. You’re cleaning with it. You’re bathing in it, and there are so many things these days that can make you sick,” Roderick said.
Federal experts estimate that more than a fifth of private wells have contaminant concentrations above levels considered safe.
Like many states, Iowa offers assistance to homeowners who use well water. The state provides about $50,000 a year to each of its 99 counties to cover testing and help fund well repairs or treatments. The money comes from fees paid for agricultural chemical purchases, but about half goes unused each year, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Roderick, who started his job in 2022, aims to spend every penny allocated to his county. Last spring, it secured an additional $40,000 that other counties had not used. Promote the program online and by sending lots of postcards. Traveling across the countryside in a sheriff’s department hand-held SUV, he collects water samples from outside nozzles and sends them to a lab.
When it finds contamination, it can offer up to $1,000 in state grants to help with repairs, or up to $500 to cap an abandoned well.
Experts urge all users of private wells to have them tested at least once a year. Even if wells meet modern construction standards and have been clean in the past, they can become contaminated as the water table rises or falls and conditions change above them. A faulty septic system or excessive application of fertilizers or pesticides can quickly contaminate groundwater.
Too many residents assume that everything is fine “as long as the water comes out of the faucet and doesn’t smell funny,” said Sydney Evans, senior science analyst at the Environmental Working Group, a national advocacy organization that studies water pollution. water .
The main concerns vary according to the geology and industries of an area.
In agricultural regions of the Midwest, for example, primary pollutants include bacteria and nitrates, which may be present in agricultural runoff. In rural Nevada and Maine, arsenic and uranium often contaminate the water. And across the country, concerns are growing about the health effects of PFAS chemicals, widely used products also known as “forever chemicals.” A recent federal study estimates that at least 45% of US tap water contains them.
Filters can help ensure safety, but only if they are selected to address the specific problem affecting a home’s water supply, Evans said. The wrong filter can give a false sense of security.
Evans said people who wonder about possible contaminants in their area can ask to see test results from wells that supply nearby community water systems. Such systems must test their water regularly and the results should be made public, he said: “It’s a great place to start, it’s free and easy.”
He also said people who rely on private water wells should ask local health officials about eligibility for help paying for testing and possible repairs or filters. Grants are often available but not publicized, he said.
A study by Emory University researchers published in 2019 found that all states have standards for building new wells, and most states require permits for them. However, the researchers wrote, “even in states with standards for water quality testing, testing is often infrequent or not performed at all.”
Some longtime rural residents live in homes that have been in their families for generations. They often know little about their water source. “They will say, ‘This is the well that my grandfather dug.’ We’ve used it ever since, and nobody’s had a problem,” said David Cwiertny, director of the Center for Health Effects of Environmental Pollution at the University of Iowa. They may not realize that the ‘impure water can harm health over time, he said.
Some states require inspections and testing of private wells when selling property. Iowa does not mandate these measures, although Webster County does. It’s a good idea for homebuyers to apply anywhere, said Erik Day, who oversees the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ private well program. He also recommends asking a technician who can run a flexible scope down the well to visually inspect the interior.
Day estimates that fewer than 10 percent of private well owners in Iowa test them annually, even though testing can be free under the state’s grant program.
In Webster County, Larry Jones recently took advantage of free well testing on a ranch he bought west of Fort Dodge in a subdivision bordering a large soybean field. Jones lives next door to the 54-year-old house, and is renovating it as a place to house his relatives.
Roderick, the county health official, took water samples from the well and found it to be contaminated with bacteria. He offered Jones $1,000 from the state grant to help fix it. He added a few thousand dollars of his own and hired a contractor.
“It’s an investment in the future,” he said. – You are talking about your family.
The old shaft was made with a 2-foot-diameter concrete casing sunk vertically in sections about 60 feet into the ground. A smaller plastic pipe ran down the middle of the casing to irrigate the bottom. A pump pumped water down the smaller pipe and into the house.
Lynn Rosenquist, owner of a local well repair business, told Jones the well was likely original to the home and probably met standards when it was built. But at least one piece of concrete had broken and fallen.
The repairs took two days of intense work by Rosenquist and his brother, Lanny, who are the third generation of their family to maintain the wells. The brothers used a backhoe and a small crane to remove much of the concrete shell. They replaced it with a narrower PVC pipe, which they sealed with a cement mixture to prevent surface seepage. When they were done, they “shocked” the system with a bleach solution, then rinsed and tried again.
This modern construction is less prone to contamination, Roderick said. “If it’s not sealed, bacteria can get in and it’s dirty,” he said.
Rudeness isn’t the only thing Roderick considers. Besides E.coli and other bacteria, it tests for nitrates and sulfates, which can exist in farm or lawn runoff or come from natural sources, and for arsenic and manganese, which can occur in rock formations. It plans to add testing for PFAS chemicals soon.
She collects the water in small plastic bottles, which she mails to a laboratory. Enter information about each well into a state database. If tests show contaminants, inform homeowners of their options.
Roderick said he likes the routine. “I’ve met a lot of people, and I’ve met a lot of dogs,” she said with a laugh. “I love the feeling that I’m actually helping people.”
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