Spring water

[beehive1234]

How can I be sure my spring water is safe to drink?

 

[midnight sun]

How can I be sure my spring water is safe to drink?

Ask somewhere like the local water authority, or some large businesses have labs. of their own (many check their own supply and effluent as they are charged on say chemical oxygen demand, before discharging into rivers etc.)
Local brewery would be a good place if you are near to one as they like the "public relations" side of the deal. May test for free! Worth a try. Failing that the council environmental health may be worth asking as they get checks done and so would know the best places to send a sample (they may charge though!) The sample would have to be taken with some 'skill' as contaminants from the bottle if not prepared properly will cock everything up!
Hope this gives you some clues.

 

[beehive1234]

Thank you ms, most enlightning

 

[Erichalfbee]

You can buy water testing kits.
"watersafe" is one and a mazon sell them

 

[midnight sun]

You can buy water testing kits.
"watersafe" is one and a mazon sell them

Coliform (test advertised) is only one specific bacteria though. What about the rest? Plus you have to test for much more than what A*zone is offering to be sure the water is safe to drink.
COD and BOD for effluent. Heavy metals, there may be old mines near you and that's where the water is really coming from. Drainage or seepage from landfill into the ground water that supplies your spring. (think fracking here)There are many considerations.
Don't be tempted to stick a goldfish in a bucket of the water to see if it lives either, fish are not a good indicator of drinking quality. (also water from the ground tends to be very short of dissolved oxygen, so the fish would possibly die and give a false result.

 

[MikeT]

You will need to test for E coli and other coliform bacteria also nitrate levels and other minerals will need to be tested for. You can get this done at a number of labs in your area. The NHS Public Health Service (Food, Water and Environmental (FWE) Services) Have believe 3 labs in Wales Bangor Cardiff and Carmarthen. I believe the main site is Carmarthen Andrew P Keen Laboratory Manager/Acting Quality Lead/Food Examiner 01267 237271

As mentioned above there are instructions of how to take the sample and I am sure the lab will be able to provide suitable sampling bottle.

It would also be worth while contacting your local district Council as they have to sample private water supplies on a regular basis, there analysis is normally undertaken by the local water company.

Hope this is useful.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

If you are going to use the spring water you'll have to get it tested regularly - don't know whether the responsibility went over when EAW (now NRW) was formed but it used to be Carmarthenshire County Council Environmental health who used to come around and take samples - I'd contact them first.

Reminds me of a story my grandfather used to tell when the farmer he worked for in the twenties saw a hiker kneel down on his field to drink from the stream, he shouted over in Welsh 'Paid yfed y dŵr yn y fan hynny 'machgen glân - mae'r teuly yn y bwthyn gerllaw yn cachu yn y nant îs lan ac mae corff dafad yn pydru yn y dŵr yn y cae nesaf' (don't drink the water there dear boy - the family in the cottage yonder use the stream as a toilet - and there's a rotting sheep's carcass in the water upstream)
The hiker turned round and said 'I'm awfully sorry, I'm English and don't understand a word of Welsh' the old farmer replied ' what I said was - don't drink the water like that - use both hands, you get a better mouthful'

 

[Apple]

The Environment Agency tested the supply for Arsenic etc and found high levels from a borehole at my cousins farm. They now have to have a large filter plant.
I seem to recall he has to pay for an "extraction license", and testing is included within the annual fee?


James

 

[theeggman]

We get our water tested every year by the local council, they don't have anything to sell so the results should be unbiased. I think they charge about £65 and record the results against the property, so when you come to sell there is a record of the water quality over the years for potential buyers.

 

[enrico]

Our tests are just over £100. My next door neighbour has to do it because they produce cider but we all share the same spring. As a backup I have a filter and uv light under the sink. A place called silverline on line supplied mine. It seems to work well. As long as your spring water doesn't go above ground before getting into your pipes you should be ok, better than chemicals etc and drinking water that has already been drunk by someone else! Ours is crystal clear, tastes like real water and I would never be without it now.
By the way you don't HAVE to get your water tested at all. You can drink what you want!
E

 

[beehive1234]

Thank you all, very good info,
dioch yn fawr iawn JBM, made me LOL. you are wicked, but.......


Enrico that is good to hear.

 

[midnight sun]

...........The hiker turned round and said 'I'm awfully sorry, I'm English and don't understand a word of Welsh' the old farmer replied ' what I said was - don't drink the water like that - use both hands, you get a better mouthful'