Home Testing Kits

Not these black balls!

Say what?!

Dr. Pankaj Parekh, the director in charge of water quality for the city of Los Angeles, California,  tried to protect the city’s water supply by covering the reservoir’s surface with thousands of black plastic balls.  Why?  Apparently there are chemicals in your water supply that, when exposed to sunlight, combine to form new cancer-causing chemicals.  Testing for the more than 60,000 chemicals that may be in your water supply is too expensive.  Dr. Parekh tried a novel approach to at least reduce the production of even more health hazards in the water supply.

Unfortunately for the Doctor, the local residents complained that the sea of black balls on the reservoir impaired their “view”.  The locals felt that as long a the government had standards in place with the Safe Water Drinking Act, there was no need for further action.

“People don’t understand that just because water is technically legal, it can still present health risks,” he said. “And so we encounter opposition that can become very personal.”- Dr. Pankaj Parekh.

Too bad the law only regulates 91 out of more than 60,000 chemicals in your water supply.

Mind you, I do wonder about the long term effect on all that hot Californian sunshine on those black plastic ball.  Plastics contain a host of noxious chemicals that could breakdown and leach into the water in the reservoir.

Looks like this idea may be “blackballed” for now.

For more information on the hazards in your water supply and why you might want to consider home water testing kits, click on this home water testing kits link.

Technorati Tags: pesticides, pollution, water quality, water testing kits, well water testing kits

EPA Drinking Water Scandal

A recent article in the New York Times reveals that the EPA only regulates less than 0.15% of the known chemicals in your water supply. The 91 chemicals they do regulate are considered dangerous in minute amounts. However, new research suggests that some of these chemicals are even more hazardous than previously thought, yet the standards for water testing and regulation have not been changed  in almost three decades.  Meanwhile thousands of new chemicals have been introduced into our water supply over that period, yet none are regulated by the EPA.

Just because we have a Safe Drinking Water Act on the books, doesn’t mean that we can trust that our drinking water is actually safe.  The NYT article states that more than 60 million Americans have been exposed to unsafe levels of contaminants in there water supply because commonly used health guidelines for safe drinking water have not been incorporated into the Act itself.

I hate to jump on the paranoia bandwagon here, but the more I read about the government’s attempts to protect us, the more I’m convinced we should take our own precautions to protect the water that we drink.

Obviously, there is no home water testing kit that will test for 60,000 plus different chemicals.   But you can identify some of the worst contaminants, including e-coli, lead, pesticides etc.

Click on the Home Health Hazards – Environmental Testing link to read reviews of different water testing kits, or click here to order your water test kit today.

Technorati Tags: pesticides, pollution, water quality, water testing kits, well water testing kits

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How Safe Is Your Water?

Not worried about your water?  You should be.  This five part video series on the safety of the American water supply highlights how over 500,000 companies have violated EPA regulations when it comes to dumping pollution into our water since 2004.  Fewer than 3% of these companies have ever been fined or charged.

How Safe Is Your Water? Part 2

How Safe Is Your Water? Part 3

How Safe Is Your Water? Part 4

How Safe Is Your Water? Part 5

You need a well water testing kit if you get your drinking water from a groundwater source.  Just click on the link to buy your water testing kit today.

If you would like more information on well water testing kits or any other type of home testing kit,  please click on this link.

For the Coles Notes version of this New York Times report, you can watch this shorter video: US Tainted Water – New York Times Report

Technorati Tags: bacterial contamination, bio waste, e coli, pesticides, pollution, water quality, water testing kits, well water testing kits

Beaver Fever

Untreated well water can harbor the protozoan giardiasis lamblia, commonly known as beaver fever.  This video describes how children or adults can be infected from well water or other water supplies contaminated with infected feces (stool/droppings), and then continue to pass the infection on to other children.

Interestingly, giardiasis is often found in dogs so be sure to wash your hands well after doing the “poop and scoop” maneuver.

Symptoms include diarrhea, weight loss, loss of appetite.

The following is taken from the CDC (Center for Disease Control) website.

If my water comes from a well, should I have my well water tested?

It depends. You should consider having your well water tested if you can answer “yes” to any of the following questions:

• Are members of your family or others who use your well water becoming ill? If yes, your well may be the source of infection.

• Is your well located at the bottom of a hill or is it considered shallow? If so, runoff from rain or flood water may be draining directly into your well and causing contamination.

• Is your well in a rural area where animals graze? Well water can become contaminated with feces if animal waste seepage contaminates the ground water. This can occur if your well has cracked casings, is poorly constructed, or is too shallow.

Tests used to specifically identify Giardia are expensive, difficult, and usually require hundreds of gallons of water to be pumped through a filter. If you answered “yes” to the above questions, consider testing your well for fecal contamination by testing it for the presence of coliforms or E. coli instead of Giardia. Although tests for fecal coliforms or E. coli do not specifically tell you whether Giardia is present, these tests might show whether your well water has been contaminated by feces. For more information on other germs and chemicals that can contaminate well water, see Contaminants in Well Water.

These tests are only useful if your well is not routinely disinfected with chlorine, since chlorine kills fecal coliforms and E. coli. If the tests are positive, it is possible that the water may also be contaminated with Giardia or other harmful parasites, bacteria and viruses. Contact your local health department or your county cooperative extension service to find out who offers water testing in your area. For information on well testing, see Well Water Testing Frequently Asked Questions. If the fecal coliform test comes back positive, indicating that your well is fecally contaminated, stop drinking the well water and contact your local water authority for instructions on how to disinfect your well.

Click here today to order your well water testing kits for fecal coliform in your well water supply.

You can find out more about water testing kits or other home testing kits available online by clicking on this link.

Technorati Tags: bacterial contamination, bio waste, e coli, water quality, water testing kits, well water testing kits

Hazards from Water Contamination

A long (45 minutes plus) educational course on three case studies on the hazards of water contamination.  This video from the Environmental Protection Agency is primarily directed at doctors and other health professionals.  Despite that slant, anyone can learn about how water supplies are contaminated, what are the most common contaminants in your water, how can you test and treat contaminated water, and a list of resources.

As I’ve mentioned before, rural water supplies are far more likely to be polluted with e coli, pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer run-off.  If you get your drinking water from a well in a rural area, it is vital that you test your water regularly.

To order a water test kit, Go to Well Water Testing Kits now.

For more information on well water testing kits or other types of home testing kits, please click on this link.

Technorati Tags: bacterial contamination, bio waste, e coli, pesticides, pollution, water quality, water testing kits, well water testing kits

If you live in a rural area and get your drinking water from a well, there is no doubt you need to use well water testing kits on a regular basis.  In previous posts, I’ve pointed out the most obvious sources of groundwater contamination in rural areas: sewage, pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer run-off from industrial agriculture operations.

But I neglected to mention that we often contribute to water pollution by our casual use of shallow drains at home and at work.  Urban areas have water treatment plants that can handle this kind of pollution.  But rural areas serviced by well water do not.

The following video from the Environmental Protection Agency shows the magnitude of the problem.

If you haven’t yet ordered your well water testing kits, click here now.

For more information on well water testing kits or other types of home testing kits available online, please click on this link.

Technorati Tags: bacterial contamination, bio waste, e coli, pesticides, pollution, water quality, water testing kits, well water testing kits