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Existing Contaminants - Test Results

If live within a reasonable vicinity of the gravel pit, your private well is tested by a reputable organization, and the test results exceed tolerable values for any of the mentioned contaminants, then I would like to hear from you. See Who I Am for methods to communicate with me.

Similarly, I would like to hear from you if you have your home tested by a reputable organization, your water supply is from Cross Valley Water District, and the test results exceed tolerable values for any of the mentioned contaminants. I also encourage you to immediately alert Cross Valley to this situation.

The original opposition site nomotorcrossinmaltby.blogspot.com is reporting that the cost is $18.00 to test for the presence of each individual metal, and that the results will be available to you approximately one to two weeks later. If you test for Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium, and Lead then expect to spend $72.00.

I will not post your name, address, or actual test results unless you give me explicit permission to do so. My goal is to alert our community should any dangerous results appear in the water supply.



Update on March 31, 2006
A family's private well appears to have tested positive for Arsenic in both 2004 and 2006. Moreover, the level of Arsenic in their well water has risen 11.9% between February 26, 2004 and March 7, 2006. The family intends to increase the testing frequency of their well water, and is monitoring the situation via legal council. There will be contentious debate about what is an acceptable tolerance level of Arsenic in the water, but I am basing my assumption on the EPA's published value of 10 parts per million (0.010 ppm). I am not qualified to interpret the test results or how Arsenic and other heavy metals occur in soil and water, but it is perplexing that the level of Arsenic in the family's well water has risen almost 12% in two years.
NOTE: at this time there is absolutely no positive correlation between the increased level of Arsenic in the family's well water and the events occurring between Rinker Materials and the Snohomish Health District.
Download the test results from me (0.5 Mb, up to 3 minutes)



Update on April 3, 2006
Suggestions on collecting a water sample from your private well
A concerned resident asked me to find and post guidance on how people should collect a water sample from their private well. I looked, could not really anything conclusive, and so am posting links to a few websites and a few tips. Please let me know if you have any comments or tips for the community!

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has several web pages on Private Drinking Water Wells. The EPA also has a web page on List of Drinking Water Contaminants & MCLs.

Before taking the water sample(s), contact your lab. Discuss what you want the lab to test for and clarify how many samples/bottles you must provide to the lab. In addition, clarify the hours of operation for the lab such that you can keep the bottles cold and deliver them to the lab in a timely fashion.

These instructions are intended as general guidelines when sampling the water from your private well. Thanks to Wrench (see the Editorials) for giving me input on these guidelines. Please discuss these guidelines with your lab and when in doubt follow their instructions.
  1. Start with a clean, sterile bottle. You may need one to three bottles depending on what will be tested by the lab.
  2. Identify and use the water tap closest to the well.
  3. Turn on the water and let it run for a while. The intent is to ensure the water has not settled anywhere in the holding tank(s) in your water system. By letting the water run you should be able to have your well pump turn on and recharge/refill your holding tank(s), and therefore your sample(s) should contain water recently taken from the well.
  4. With the water still running, remove the cap from the bottle. Do NOT touch the lip, rim, or top of the bottle since you do not want to contaminate the sample.
  5. Fill the bottle to the top or close to the top with the water. Immediately put the cap on the bottle and seal it.
  6. Repeat #4 and #5 for each additional bottle.
  7. Once done, strive to keep the bottles cold or close to the same temperature as the water when it left the well. You might use a small cooler with ice in it. Some bacteria may not be detected or may contaminate the entire sample if the water becomes warm.
  8. Deliver the bottle(s) as soon as possible to the lab.