“Everyone takes drinking water for granted," said Abinanti. “But we've viewed private wells as if they were somehow immune from contamination. Groundwater contamination from industrial and commercial activities, pesticide applications and septage leakage could occur anywhere."

The new law requires testing for parameters that surpass those reviewed in typical water tests conducted by potential real property purchasers, including a broader range of both organic and conventional contaminants.

The new law mandates that the water testing must be conducted by a certified lab following strict Health Department guidelines. Test results must be given to both the proposed buyer and the Health Department which will develop a database to track water quality and identify problem areas.
 
Reports show that 25% of private drinking water wells were found to be contaminated after similar legislation was enacted in New Jersey in 2001. In the fifteen months since Rockland County’s private well water testing law went into effect, over half flunked the water test.

“Clearly, this legislation is needed to get wells tested that are not now being tested and to raise the public’s awareness of the importance of periodic testing,” said Abinanti.

Comments (1)

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written by agata, May 29, 2007

I think it's very important to make people aware of how the quality of drinking water is important. I'm from Poland - we don't require it, but our goverment should do this too.
best regards,
agata - hydrogeologist

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