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Jim Bauder

Extension specialist James Bauder leads the Water Quality team. He and program associates Suzanna Carrithers and Adam Sigler recently talked with us about their Well Educated program, which started in 1989. This program guides private well owners through the process of testing water quality, provides materials to help interpret test results, and offers insight on ways to help protect drinking water resources.

Q: Jim, let’s key on some water quality basics Montana well owners need to know to help protect their drinking water. What are some of the common pollutants found in Montana well water?

A: I have a personal issue with the word 'pollutant'. I'd like to make a distinction between a so-called pollutant, water quality impairments, and naturally occurring constituents of water. All water sourced from a well, stream, river, or lake (and even rainfall) has constituents - things either dissolved in or suspended in the water. The most common example is salt - resulting from the weathering of geologic material - or salt which occurs in the soil and was dissolved in the water as it passed through the soil.

Typically, when a natural resource management agency looks at a water resource and its potential or actual beneficial use, the utility or quality of the water is assessed from the perspective of impairments, i.e., those things contained in the water which limit or restrict the water's utility. These impairments are often naturally occurring and/or amplified by human activity. For example - salt, sediment, some nutrients, arsenic. Additionally, a water resource can be impaired physically - flow modification, temperature modification. Pollutants are generally considered to be materials introduced through human activity and include trash, PCBs and MTBE. (Note - Methyl tertiary-butyl ether is a flammable liquid used as an additive in unleaded gasoline.)

Suzanna Carrithers

With that said, I don't think you are likely to find many situations where pollutants are present in Montana’s water. We have impairments including salt, hardness, sodium, bacteria and sediment. You might find elevated concentrations of nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen. If arsenic is present, it is likely geologic, except in areas with a history of hard-rock mining.

Now to answer the question - the commonly occurring constituents we advise people to have water tested for are: nitrogen, salts, acidity, bacteria, and, if there is a reason to suspect it, arsenic. Generally, we are not inclined to suggest that someone start testing for volatile organic compounds, trace elements, minerals or pesticides unless they have reason to suspect them.

Q: What can well owners do to protect their water from these contaminants?

A: When it comes to farm and home chemicals, fuels and lubricants, the basics are proper storage, proper use and proper disposal. We have come a long way in twenty years with educating the agricultural community on fertilizer and pesticide use, as producers need to become more cost efficient. And homeowners better understand the proper use and care of septic systems. That includes properly disposing of personal care products and pharmaceuticals rather than flushing them down the toilet. The Well Educated program stresses well owners are responsible for their water quality.

Q: And what should a well owner do after receiving test results that exceed guidelines for a contaminant?

Adam Sigler

A: We encourage well owners to take a second sample to the same laboratory – unless you suspect its testing methods are flawed – and see if the problem shows up again. If it is something really nasty that poses a health threat, you need an alternate water source. This could include a new well or getting drinking water from a bulk water supplier. If the problem is bacterial, the owner can do a shock chlorination of the well or treat bacteria at the water’s point of entry to the house, which is usually at the pressure tank. You also need to find the source of bacterial contamination and eliminate it so this doesn’t happen again. Other contaminants can be treated at the tap with reverse osmosis or other methods. Some of these methods can put contaminants back into the system, often through the septic system, so well owners need to determine how the treatment technology works.

We have fact sheets on our website specific to common water contaminants. People can also call us and get advice. And we are developing a “What Do You Do” link on our website that will take you to corrective actions for specific problems.

Q: A purpose of the Well Educated program is to give you access to the water test data, correct?

A: Yep. The goal of the Well Educated program is two-fold. Our first goal is to educate well owners on water quality and how to protect their ground water. The second is that their water testing data goes into our database. The owners decide how we can share it. One of the things we can do with the data is upload it to the Ground Water Information Center (GWIC) at Montana Tech. Collectively this data helps us map the state’s ground water quality resources so we know better what is happening below ground.

We will soon receive funding from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to conduct Well Educated programs in four Montana communities. Through these workshops, we hope we will build greater community awareness of well owners’ responsibility and get people to work together on maintaining groundwater quality. We also just produced a DVD called "Taking Care of yOur Groundwater." This includes information on how homeowners can best care for both their well and septic systems.

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