By Hamideh Soltani-Ahmadi, Project Leader at Save the Water\u2122| <\/b>Aug 28, 2021<\/b><\/p>\n
In our recently published article \u201cUn-well\u201d Water: What quality issues could be lurking in your well?, <\/span><\/a>we explained what private wells are, how they work, and introduced concerns related to well water quality. These concerns are based on water pollutants originating from natural and man-made sources and the fact that the <\/span>Environmental Protection Agency (<\/span>EPA)<\/span> does not regulate, monitor, or actively treat well water, nor do they provide recommended criteria or standards for wells<\/span>.<\/span> There are approximately <\/span>43 million people<\/span><\/a> in the United States that rely on private well water for drinking and other uses at home, and in order to prevent contamination of wells and to develop solutions to this problem going forward, we need to gain more knowledge of these pollutants, their sources, and the consequences of consuming polluted well water.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Natural sources of pollution can come from<\/span> minerals such as arsenic, radon, and fluoride which commonly exist in the earth\u2019s crust. As groundwater flows through rocks and soil containing these minerals, they are dissolved or washed and can contaminate this groundwater which may find its way into private wells.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Man-made pollutants<\/span> <\/a>caused by human activity account for the other major source of well water pollution. These pollutants can come from local industry, agricultural runoff, livestock waste, septic systems, landfills, underground storage tanks, household waste, and well water structures and designs.<\/span><\/p>\nSources of pollution<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n
\n
Health issues from drinking contaminated well water<\/span><\/h2>\n