THE SKILLINGS BLOG

Pesticides can enter your well water and contaminate drinking water. The short-term effects include vomiting and longterm they can lead to cancer.

After spotting the blue-green stains near your bathtub drain, you asked your friends and did some Internet searching to find the cause. You probably know by now that your water is likely corrosive, but you wonder what that means to your health and your home plumbing system.

A total coliform bacteria test is used to determine the amount of biological contaminants in drinking water. It is easy to perform, inexpensive and should be done at regular intervals for water supplies at risk of contamination. Unlike chemical contaminants that pose a health risk over time, one glass of water containing just a few disease organisms, like E. coli or fecal coliform, can cause illness.

Radon is a naturally occurring tasteless, odorless, and colorless gas that's created by the radioactive breakdown of uranium.  It can get into the air you breathe and the water you drink. Radon enters your well by dissolving and accumulating into ground water. When water used for cooking, washing, cleaning and drinking is contaminated, the gas escapes into the air, much like carbonated drinks release CO2 when opened. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to mitigate the problem.

In New England, we’re famous for the beautiful rustic stone walls found throughout the region. New Hampshire is even nicknamed the Granite State thanks to our unique geology.  Radon, a colorless, odorless radioactive gas is produced by the decay of the element radium, which is naturally occurring in our rocky New England soil.