Arsenic in well water

[Worksmart]

Mom & Dad are looking at buying a house and the water test came back with an elevated level of arsenic. Standard is .010 ppb and the test shows .017ppb. I'll call it almost double the EPA's new standard adopted in 2002. The old standard was .050 ppb and that was adopted in 1942.

What do ya think??? Walk away from the deal??? Try a new well and hope for the best??? The sellers would obviously have to accept participating in the fix(if they choose). My parents like the land(28 acres) and the like house(built 1996). It's the first deal they've really liked in almost a year of looking.

Some type of distillation or filtration is a possibility but not an acceptable method to solve the problem long term. Changing the source of water is really the only acceptable method of solving the problem. City water is not available.

I'm leaning towards walking away. They don't HAVE to buy this house. They WANT to buy it. Would you take the risk??? Thanks Chuck

[MikePA]

Chuck, here's a link to some information. I did a Google search on "arsenic in well water". Got a bunch of hits.

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Will the local health department even allow that well to be used now? I know around here any time there's a change of ownership the well has to be tested. If it doesn't pass it can't be used for potable water.

[Hakim]

Hi Chuck,

The levels in the well your parents propose to buy are apparently in excess of Federal "acceptable" current levels.

There is an old saying, that for living a good life, you first need three basic things: clean air, clean soil and clean water.

If for any reason a property starts out with deficiency in any one of those, you and your parents might best look on down the road. It might be a simply thing to "fix." But arsenic is known to cause cancer, so who needs that in the water?

[Stoneheartfarm]

Try having the water tested again. Draw the sample from a different tap this time. It only costs a couple of bucks and the original sample may have been tainted by leachate from the faucets, plumbing, etc. I remember reading somewhere that arsenic and copper are common together, and the numbers you are talking about are really very miniscule. (Something on the order of one quart in Lake Michigan. I think. One of the engineers here can probably give a more accurate image).

Follow the directions on the test bottle carefully. If the second test comes back bad, then decide what to do.

Steve

[Worksmart]

Thanks for all the comments. If the sellers want to extend the time for inspections on the purchase offer, then we'll be able to investigate further. If not, then I guess we'll have no choice but to walk away.

Any other thoughts or comments will be greatly appreciated. Chuck

[herbenus]

You need to find out more about the well, like how deep it is. Maybe a new well is in order, but much deeper. Ask for logs if available and maybe talk to driller. And always check water at the well. In this case you may have to check in house and at well.

[Worksmart]

Well.......mom and dad decided to walk away. No guarantee new well would solve problem. Just too much money at risk here. Thanks again for the comments. Onwards and upwards. Chuck

[bws]

how would you check the water in the well??we have a old hand dug one that needs to be checked.not sure if we should check at the tap or at the well?bws

[herbenus]

By checking water at the well, I'm referring to getting a sample as close to well as possible. As opposed to running through tank(s), pipes, house, etc. Sometimes pipes can add something. It's not always convenient to get a sample at well, because a faucet wasn't installed here. The main reason for a faucet here is for sampling, or for getting nice cold well water... This way you are not testing what the pipes are adding - which is both good and bad. Which is why you may want to test both. If you are persistent, I guess you could loosen a connection. But I'd think twice about this on an old set-up, as something may break, and you'll be in for some plumbing time.