What to do when your well flunks its sample test

A flunked drinking water test will probably result in a sleepless night. You've done the responsible thing and now you are rewarded with a problem . . . coliform bacteria in your water. Your test slip tells you that at least it isn't e-coli which would mean fecal bacteria in your water. Best to get some bottled water for the next couple of days anyway. First plan of action - redo the test - make sure this time you follow all the directions. Make sure the faucet isn't the source of contamination.

If it comes back unsatisfactory again, you may have to disinfect your well with chlorine. Check with your local health department to get their advice. If you decide to disinfect, purchase a fresh bottle of household bleach without additives. Then get busy:

1. First remove the well casing cover or cap.
2. Add one-half gallon of liquid bleach to the well. If a hose can reach the well, wash down the inner wall. Then close up the well.
3. Turn on an outside house faucet and run it until you can smell chlorine, then turn it off.
4. Repeat this for all of the faucets inside and outside. This is done to move the chlorinated water through the system.
5. Let the chlorine remain in the pipes overnight. If possible, don't use any water.
6. Next day, flush out as much water as possible using outside faucets. Run the water on the ground. Don't get this chlorinated water in ponds, lakes or streams! Forget about washing your jeans for a couple days.
7. Resume normal water use - it may take about five days before all the chlorine is gone.
8. Retest when you are sure the chlorine has disappeared. Use a spa chlorine test to make sure.

How did my well get contaminated?
Contamination may be caused by soil, insects, small animals or animal waste falling in the well. Make sure that access holes for pipes or wires are sealed with clear silicone sealant. Other possibilities include a failed pressure tank bladder. Sleuth out your problem or contamination may reoccur. Make sure you have a 100 feet no pollution zone around your well. This means no fertilizers, no oil or gasoline dumped or stored within that space and that animals and manure piles are kept away from the well. Even construct your compost pile outside of this space.

Sleep easier with a clean well.

Bacteria in my well? How do I know for sure?

Reach in your wallet and bring out twenty-one dollars. This is what it costs for a whole year's worth of peace of mind about the health of your drinking water well when you use it for a bacteriological test.

What am I testing for?
The BacT (using water lingo) is a test for coliform bacteria. The word "coliform" used to give me visions of microscopic monsters. But, not all coliform bacterias make you sick. You probably have coliform on the handle of your coffee cup right now. However, if coliform is in drinking water, it could mean some microscopic monsters are there, too. If the test is positive for coliform, the lab will also test for fecal coliform and e.coli bacteria. If either of of those coliforms are found, don't drink the water!

What do I collect the sample in?
Pick up a sample bottle from your lab of choice. The health district has a list, but Twiss Analytical is the lab PUD uses.

Where do I test from?
The best sample point is a metal outside hose bib. Take off any screens or washers. Flame the threads of the faucet with cigarette lighter for one minute.

How do I test my drinking water?
Once the sample point is sterilized, run cold water through the faucet for a full five minutes. Don't let water splash back onto the faucet! Make the stream clear, steady and consistent not a gusher. Use this time to fill out your paperwork.

Don't rinse the bottle! The powder inside the bottle is an important part of the test!

1. Turn the water down so the water stream is about as thick as a pencil.
2. Remove the plastic seal on the bottle
3. Remove the lid. Hold it in your hand. Do not contaminate this lid by touching inside the cap.
4. Fill the bottle just above the 100 milliliter line. Do not touch the threads of the bottle.
5. Screw the lid back on securely, dry of the outside of the bottle and wrap the paperwork around the bottle

Keep the sample cool and return it to the lab as soon as possible. If the sample is more than 30 hours old, you will have to retest. Twiss has pick up points around the county. The lab will have your results back in 24 hours.

There you go - easy and you are good to go for another year. Don't forget to check in with the lab about other tests that need to be done regularly, but less frequently.

Who is watching your drinking water?

If you had no air to breath I guess clean water wouldn't be much of a priority. Otherwise - it should be because you drink it, play in it and, yes, even breath it. Who is making sure your water is good enough to drink? Well, that depends. It depends on how your water is supplied.

OK in Kitsap all of our water comes from pretty much the same bucket. This bucket is underground and known as an aquifer. We do not get any water from snow pack and only City of Bremerton customers get water from the Casad Dam Reservoir and only part of the time.
So 80% of Kitsap residents get drinking water from drinking water wells. If you have your own well, hopefully you already know this. If you are on "city" water or PUD water or get your water from any organized water system it still comes from underground.

1. Systems with more than 15 connections (Group A). Back to the question who is watching your drinking water? The Safe Drinking Water act requires that organized water systems that have over 15 hookups must test for contaminants on a regular basis and report the results to the state Department of Health and to everyone who is on that system. That is why many of you receive a Customer Confidence Report (CCR) every June. The law requires that these water suppliers do Bacteriologic tests monthly and test for nitrates annually. Other tests are done on a three or four year schedule including tests for lead and copper. If you are on a system that has 15 or more connections, you better be getting a CCR in the mail.
2. Systems with two or more connections but less than 15 (Group B). These wells are shared by two or more households, but less than 15. There are 900 of these systems in Kitsap! It is presently a state law that these wells must be tested, but requirements are less - a bacteriologist test once and year and nitrate test every three years. Many of these group B folks hire a company to manage the system and take the water samples. State Department of Health and the local Kitsap Health District monitors that this testing is being done. This law is changing however. The legislature, in the effort to save money, is considering eliminating some or all of the requirements for group B water systems. To learn more about this visit the WA State Department of Health Drinking Water website.
3. Private Wells. There are thousands of private wells in the county. Many of these wells supply water to just one home. There is no requirement for testing these single family homes. Does that mean it shouldn't be done? Common sense says that you need to take a sample at least once a year. Take it to a lab and have it tested for at least bacteriological contamination. Do it today because you and your family depend on clean drinking water.
   

So, to answer our question: Who is responsible for your drinking water? You are. Learn where your water supply is coming from and keep track of your water's health.

Silverdale Water wins taste test

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who has the tastiest water of all? Looks like its Wisconsin's Stevens Point Water followed by New York City and our own Silverdale Water District tying for third with Lincoln Water System of Nebraska.

The judging was held at the American Water Works Association (AWWA) annual national conference in Chicago yesterday. This is no mean accomplishment for our yummy Kitsap County Water. Competition was made up of regional taste winners from all across the country.

The judging panel rated each water system on its flavor characteristics. Judges were Stephen Booth, Ph.D., of Kennedy/Jenks, who is also chair of AWWA’s Taste and Odor Committee; Monique Durand, engineer at Hazen and Sawyer, P.C and member of the same committee; Pinar Omur-Ozbek, Ph.D., research assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University; and Matt Rodewald, reporter for Chicago’s NBC affiliate.

Not too shabby. Think about that when you pay $2 for a tiny plastic bottle. I'm filling my own bottle with Kitsap County water, the third best in the land.

Puget Sound's Invisible Shoreline

I went to John William's The Invisible Shoreline video tour Saturday night at the Poulsbo Marine Science Center. I have not been to the Science Center in a while. I forgot how fascinating it is to get a peak at the underwater creatures. We got to see crabs delicately dining on a clam dinner. I could relate having just come from one myself. The center is housing a huge octopus in the large tank in the foyer. He (I found out how to tell it is a he) was extremely active . . .ballooning up and thrashing around the tank. He even did a few head butts on the window. Niki, MSC volunteer, told us this boisterous activity wasn't typical and wondered if it was time to release him to find his soul-mate in the depths.

The tiny auditorium at the center was packed. Obviously there is interest in our Puget Sound life. It was a free event sponsored by one of our KEEP/ECONet grants. John showed clips of underwater videos shot by him and his diving buddies. Amazing stuff going on down there. Sea Slugs are definitely much more attractive than the terrestrial kind. We were amused by a hitchhiking worm protecting his host by giving a sea star a painful pinch. John slipped in episodes of education in between clips: teaching about wave action, differences in tidal zones and that, indeed, Puget Sound health starts with picking up dog poop.

Looking around, I did recognize a few folks as members of the "choir". But the viewing definitely drew from a larger population. To reach even more new audiences . . .maybe he needs to show his footage on the wide screens in bars. I did learn that John has his own TV show on BKAT. For more information, visit: http://SEA-Inside.org.

First day of summer

Happy first day of summer. Our Spring certainly was soggy! So far this June we have received 1.59 inches of rainfall. Average for the entire month of June is only 1.58! Remember the wet late 90's? We had 3.58 inches of rain in June, 1997. Who knows maybe we will break that record.

Our rainfall total for the water year so far is 48.04 inches. Still below our record setting wet year of 1999 when it rained 62.16 inches during the entire water year. By the way water years are from October to October. Wet years are really good news for Kitsap. We depend on rain to replenish our aquifers. Good for drinking water, not so good for our spirits. Look at it this way. . .our glass is way over being half full.

If you are interested in more fascinating rainfall data, visit KPUD website www.kpud.org.

Last week of school! Next year is going to be exciting for some of the 4th graders in CK school District. I and two cohorts along with the CK school district have come to the end of a two+ year process of creating a science kit to be piloted to twelve fourth grade teachers in the district come fall. The kit, called Connecting Kitsap, contains lessons on local watersheds, drinking water, Wetlands and Streams as well as recycling, and hazardous waste. As you may guess this kit is quite comprehensive. The lessons will give students hands on learning and opportunities to use the scientific process. Plus all the lessons are all very engaging to 4th graders.

When I say we "built" these kits. I mean we physically built them. This involved writing the lessons, purchasing materials and using our imaginations to create hands on manipulatives to be included in the kit. The lessons were written by Doug Dowell and Kim SanFilipe from Ck school district, Pat Kirschbaum from Surface and Storm Water Management and Jo Meints from Kitsap County Solid Waste and me. This was a lot of work on all of our parts as well as a major chunk of our respective budgets. We now know why science kits are so expensive. CK school district and their students are being given quite a gift! Our goal with these kits is to offer science education as well as fostering stewardship for our Kitsap environment. I feel they do the job. Teachers and students will give us their feedback next year.

Puget Sound starts in Kitsap County

Wow. I have one follower. AWESOME! This does pose some responsibility though. What to blog about????. . . .

This week, as well as 5th grade field trips at Buck Lake, I attended a KEEP meeting. KEEP stands for Kitsap Environmental Education Programs. This group has been getting together for 16 plus years. Members are all doing some type of environmental education in Kitsap County. We represent government or quasi government agencies like PUD, Kitsap County Public Works (Solid Waste and Surface and Storm Water Management), Conservation District, WA Sea Grant and WSU, but also have nonprofit members such as Stillwaters Environmental Center, the Great Peninsula Conservancy and the Illahee Citizens Group .

The purpose of the group is to network to facilitate members working cooperatively with each other. KEEP has changed somewhat recently due to the interaction with the Puget Sound Partnership and its Puget Sound Starts Here campaign. I have heard positive and negative comments about the Puget Sound Partnership, but I would have to give them a thumbs up because they are funding our group and groups like ours for projects that promote a healthy Puget Sound. This means that KEEP has added EcoNet to its name in order to play. A major result of doing that is that a coordinator for KEEP is being funded. The compensation is small, but Joleen Palmer from Stillwaters volunteered to take the KEEP/EcoNet coordinator position. Also, we were given an opportunity to choose a handful of projects to be funded through EcoNet block grants. Activities resulting from these projects can be found at www.greatpeninsula.org/events.

At this week's KEEP meeting updates were given on the funded projects:

• Still Hope Productions' The invisible shoreline video tour is being shown June 15 at Long Lake County Park, June 17 in Port Gamble and June 19 at Poulsbo Marine Science Center.
• Print and online ads are running in the Sun about activities for citizens.
• Stillwaters Environmental Center is sponsoring shoreline boat and kayak tours
• Rain garden mentors have been trained by WSU

Belonging to KEEP is a valuable tool to help environmental educators to make a difference.

Late Spring traditionally brings nature field trips for elementary schools. North Kitsap fifth grade field trippers visit the Hansville Green Way trails around Buck Lake. They spend the morning walking through Doug fir, cedar and hemlock; looking at pond creatures and experiencing the meadow. This field trip is sponsored by Hansville Greenway collaborator, Ken Shawcroft. Ken is a dedicated community gem of a guy. For the past 12+ years, Ken dedicates time to arrange for teachers to bring students out and arranges for volunteer "experts" to be at stations around the the Greenway. He greets the buses, chats with the kids for a bit giving them insight about the trail and some do's and don'ts for the morning. The larger group separates into smaller groups that he then escorts around to the learning stations.

I get to be one of the "experts" at the pond. The fifth graders walk down an avenue of trees, make a sharp turn though the forest to see a awe inspiring wetland open up before their eyes. They spend the first few minutes at the pond in silence, looking and listening. We play a game where they hold up a finger when they spy another shade of color in the wetland. They point out brown hot-dog shaped cattails poking up through the water. They spy yellow on the floating lily-pads. On islands of moss they see the white blooms of the bog plant, labrador Tea. Then the fun begins. I dip my net into the water and pull out a myriad of small pond creatures and place them in white tubs of pond water. The kids scoop up the "bugs" and look at them through mini microscopes. Most of them have never realized how much life is in a pond. Dragonfly larvae, damselfly larvae, water boatman, even tiny copepods are studied and identified. All too soon Ken comes for the troop and moves them on the next station delivering a new group to experience the pond.
Fifth graders always look forward to late Spring - so do I.