Testing and Contamination in Rural and Suburban America

Background:

Traditionally, the United States has had a significant rural population although the emergence of urban centers has seen significant growth in the last 50 years. Nevertheless, there are many areas in the country that still rely of wells and ground water for their drinking water. Recent EPA estimates are that over 15% of the population still uses well water for drinking, washing, crop support and general purposes. Close to 45 million Americans look to well water for the basic necessities of life.

Well water is under threat of contamination from a number of sources however, and the burden of testing of ground water is put on individual landowners rather than government agencies. As a result, pure drinking water is becoming a problem in rural and suburban America and, because testing by the individual homeowner is not required, becomes a hidden problem of potentially large magnitude.

The Problem:

Unlike municipal and bottled water source, drinking water from wells is not regulated by any government body including the Environmental Protection Agency. This is true because each well is its own source of water and effective regulation of millions of wells is beyond the scope and power of government regulatory authorities.

In addition well water is subject to contamination from a number of sources and the risk of significant health problems depends on a number of factors including: