Frequency of water testing for wells and boreholes.

[nhoenich]

  Currenty for  hospital and  home patients incoming water quality is tested at a frequency no greater than once every 6 months. In many cases it may only be checked annually. The water used generally complies with drinking water requirements.
This may not be the case if water is extracted from private wells since such wells are subject to differing control and responsibility for ensuring that the water is drinkable lies with the local authorities.  
Wells and/or boreholes may also be more prone to seasonal changes and contamination from a variety of other sources such as agricultural waste, chemicals used in hydrocarbon extraction, septic tanks, or underground fuel storage tank seepage.
 A number of recent studies have demonstrated that water from such sources  may be subject to a higher rate of failure in terms of microbiologic and chemical quality. A public health study of pathogens in US groundwater supplies in 2000 reported results of sampling of 244 public water-supply wells   and   approximately 50 percent of wells were positive for one or more fecal indicators (total coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli, enterococci, viruses infecting coliform bacteria, and human viruses)    In a more recent survey  the United States Geological Survey studied the water quality of over 2000 private wells to assess the existence and extent of contamination . It found that water from about 23% of the wells had at least one contaminant at a level of potential health concern.  In the UK a  study of tap water from 497 properties using private water supplies in an area of metalliferous and arsenic mineralization found that 65% of samples contained one or more contaminants at levels exceeding drinking water quality standards.
My question to the community is if you have patients that draw their water from private wells, or are working in hospitals who extract water from a well on site, how frequently is the water quality checked and by who?.  
Many thanks
Nh

[Ian Wilde]

Hi Nic,

I for one do not know where our patients get their water from on an individual basis.  I doubt I'm on my own too.  I will do some digging (not literally) to find out.