THE SKILLINGS BLOG

Despite the fact that much of New Hampshire and Massachusetts has clean, great-tasting water, there are many people who believe that bottled water is better. Some say they prefer the taste, while others say they want to make sure their water is safe.

As a private well owner, it is your responsibility to maintain your water supply. Along with annual testing, you should periodically have your well systems checked to determine its overall health. 

We often talk to homeowners who want to know how often they should test the quality of their well water. Because there is little to no regulation of well water quality depending on where you live, making sure well water is safe to drink is the responsibility of the homeowner. How often you should test depends on where you live, if there are known sources of contamination nearby or if there have been problems with the well water at your home before.

The Environmental Protection Agency is tasked with keeping us safe from contaminants in our drinking water. They have established National Primary Drinking Water Standards (NPDWRs) that set mandatory quality standards for a variety of drinking water contaminants. The regulations are legally enforceable and set Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) to protect the public from consuming water that may be a health.

What to know about fluoride and well water
If you live in a city or large town, your public water system may add fluoride to drinking water to promote dental health. Few people realize that fluoride is also naturally-occurring in water drawn from bedrock wells, especially in some regions of New Hampshire. Most naturally-occurring fluoride levels are similar to levels found in public water systems, but in some areas of the state, higher levels of fluoride can occur.