Everyday brings something new! Manure runoff in well water!

[djinwa]

I was a teenager in the seventies and recall having a problem with our well water. It was near a low spot where the water trough was for bulls. Contaminated our water causing a smell, and I remember getting a kind of rash from showering. Never got sick as I recall - manure is good for the immune system.

Reminiscing, once the pump went out, and afraid of having greasy hair at school, I went out and broke the ice in the trough and washed my hair.

 

[plumber_greg]

I'll tell another story about contanimating groundwater. Platte City, Mo. is just north of Kansas City and they get their water from wells. It is ice cold water and cheap to treat. I know the supertendent of the plant. I don't know the particulars of where and how in Minnesota, but they put some kind of dye in the water up there. Seven months later it showed up in the Platte City water plant! That's why groundwater is so important and needs to be taken care of. You never know who you may be affecting. gs

 

[ny_grass]

Hi all,

Not sure whether anyone will see this given the age of the original post but I thought I'd follow up with a conclusion to the story.

As you may know, it's been biblically wet here in the north east (and other parts of the country) this "spring" (what spring?!). The rains just kept coming and my water just kept being nasty. Finally we had a spell of about 5-6 days of dry so I got a guy to dig a big trench to divert the water away from the well. That did the trick. I also bought a nice whirlpool filter so I'm comfortable that my water is reasonably okay.

I haven't done anything with the well; if the above works, I probably won't (time being limited and all ...).

Thanks again for all the advice.

JR

 

[chippie]

Did you get your water tested? I sure would.

 

[ny_grass]

Did you get your water tested? I sure would.

I tried but the nearest place that could do a nitrate/nitrite test was about about an hour (round trip) away and I just couldn't make it down there. I assumed that there was coliform/bacteria in the water and we'd stopped drinking it long ago. Are there other tests that you'd recommend? People on this thread have suggested that a 20' dug well might be unsafe given the "stuff that's out there today" (paraphrase) but what does this actually mean given that I'm at the top of a hill in a very rural area? Are we talking about air-borne contaminants leeching into my ground water? Might we be drinking PCBs and dioxins from the heavy industry that existed within 50 miles of my place within the last 50 years? How does one know, other than expensive tests?

 

[M.Magis]

Did you contanct the local health department? My area may be different, but that's who I called to have my water tested. I think it cost around $60.

 

[Jalopy]

Try googling New York Water Testing Labs and you will find numerous labs capable to perform your testing and they can give recommendations and prices. Here in Iowa, the University of Iowa has an ongoing study that for a fee you can send them a sample and then they mail you the results. Well worth the time and effort to check the safety of your water. It may be as simple as iron in the water causing the cloudiness but it is better to be safe than sorry that you could have prevented something had you known the problem. Good Luck! JLP

 

[Hippie Rancher]

I can't imagine a 20 foot well here that is only 580 feet short of water here.

up until a decade ago this place (usually) made it 120 years with two functioning shallow wells and 4 good plus 4 not soo good stock ponds in a 15 inch rainfall area. 2 destockings that I know about, once in the 50's and again in 1978.

about ten years ago we went to a deep well in our lower country - water is at 545, well is 600.

the old main well for the HQTRS was 24 feet deep, ran on an old pump jack and started drying up a couple years ago then the sides collapsed so we aren't using it anymore. that is real drought.