#Well Water

[rjzimmerman]

High toxin levels are illegal in public water. But not for Americans using private wells. (Washington Post)

Excerpt from this Washington Post story:

On a Tuesday morning in May 2021, during a brief period when Cathy Cochrane’s chemotherapy sessions had paused, her hair was beginning to grow back and the intense pain from the treatments was subsiding, she nervously logged into a Cowlitz County commissioner meeting to testify about what she believed had caused her ovarian cancer and her fears that others were in danger too.

“The first thing you want to know when you hear the news is ‘why? Why me?’” she told the commissioners of her April 2019 diagnosis. “But worse than not knowing why, is finding out why and knowing it could have been prevented.”

The previous November, Cochrane discovered that the water she had been drinking for nearly a decade contained 638 parts per billion of arsenic, a toxin that can cause cancer and increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

The maximum allowable level of arsenic in water for public utilities is 10 parts per billion — or 10 micrograms of arsenic per liter of water— meaning their water had nearly 64 times what would be legal in public drinking water, though no amount of arsenic is considered safe. But Cochrane, 66, and her husband, John Brugman, 70,do not get drinking water from their municipality.

Instead, like over an estimated 43 million Americans, the water that comes out of their taps is drawn from a private well. In their case, it’s a 405-foot-deep shaft dug feet away from their rural home, situated in a small clearing surrounded by forest,that pulls from a natural aquifer deep underground.

They had never tested their water for arsenic; it wasn’t required during the well’s construction or at any point after, and they said they were not aware that arsenic occurred naturally in the area. Though public water utilities have to test for arsenic and follow strict federal standards for the toxin, private wells face no federal regulations, complicating efforts to ensure all Americans have reliable access to safe drinking water. Like in many communities, there were no requirements here at the state or county level either.

The EPA regulates the amount of toxins allowed in public drinking water to keep people safe, establishing the maximum levels for dozens of contaminants, requiring utilities to conduct regular testing and imposing consequences on those that break the law by failing to remove toxins.

But the agency doesn’t regulate the drinking water of the more than 1 in 10 people who get their water from their own private wells.

In lieu of any national laws, some states and municipalities across the country have issued their own regulations. A February study from the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology found 23 states have adopted requirements for water quality testing of private wells. But those requirements vary widely in scope, and only 10 states have laws that require notifying well owners about a potential contamination, the study found.

Though the proportion of people using private wells has declined, the number of wells has increased overall with the growth of the general population — and the levels and pervasiveness of some contaminants in those wells are increasing, studies show.

Some studies have found that they have become more contaminated as a result of climate change and the expanding use of chemicals in agriculture that pollute natural water sources.

[prep4tomoro]

Pumping [Well] Water Without Electricity:

For city-dwellers, this won't be an option and massive water storage and/or filtering/purification may be the only options when the public water is contaminated or not running.

For those with Well Water, the Well may not be dry but the electric pump could go on the fritz or the grid could go down. If the grid is down, a power generator is the easiest method to power the well pump but if the electric pump is on the fritz, or there is some other situation when electricity is not available to pump water; you may need water out of an existing well or to pump from a pond, creek, or some other outside water source. That's when It's good to have a manual (emergency hand pump) and, maybe a 12-volt/DC, backup plan.

These resources may be of assistance to you: Options for Pumping Water Without Electricity Ram Pump Build Video 1

Ram Pump Build Video 2

Ram Pumps 4 Sale Indoor Pitcher Pump High-End Hand Pumps for an Existing (Deep) Well:

[Article 1] [Article 2]

[Simple Pumps]

[Bison Pumps] Inexpensive Pumps:    [EZ Web Site]    [EZ Video]

[Freedom Web Site] [Emergency Web Site] [Emergency Video] [Other Videos]

[Reference Link]

Related Resources: Have a Long-Term Water Storage Plan for Emergencies Methods to Purify Water

[14-Point Emergency Preps Checklist] [11-Cs Basic Emergency Kit] [Learn to be More Self-Sufficient] [The Ultimate Preparation] [5six7 Menu]

[pics-and-fanfics]

Guess who doesn’t have access to water! Again!

This time it’s the actual pump for the well, last time it was something else! This time it’s the pump that pulls the water out of the ground!

This is the third time in a year!

[nathanielbellows]

I wrote a Technique piece called, "In Praise of the Unexpected Rhyme," for Songwriting Magazine (issue 30), about how unconventional rhyming can bring additional depth, interest, texture, & surprise to a song. Featuring examples by Joni Mitchell, Aimee Mann, Leonard Cohen, Joanna Newsom, and me (re: my new single, “Well Water (feat. Shara Nova)”. Purchase the digital issue HERE.

[sadclowncentral]

my family is fucking addicted to macgyvering and it's becoming a problem. every time something in this house breaks, instead of doing the sensible thing of replacing it or calling someone qualified to fix it, we all group around the offending object with a manic look in our eyes and everyone gets a try at fixing it while being cheered on or ridiculed by the rest.

it's a beautiful bonding activity, but the "creative" fixes have turned our house into a quasihaunted escape room like contraption where everything works, but only in the wonkiest of ways. you need a huge block of iron to turn on the stove. the oven only works if a specific clock is plugged in. the bread machine has a huge wood block just stapled to it that has become foundational to its function. sometimes when you use the toaster the doorbell rings. and that's just the kitchen.

it's all fun and games until you have guests over and you have to lay out the rules of the house like it's a fucking board game. welcome to the beautiful guest room. don't pull out the couch yourself you need a screwdriver for that, and that metal rod makes the lamp work so don't move it. it also made me a terrifying roommate in college, because it makes me think i can fix anything with enough hubris and a drill. you want to call the landlord about a leaky faucet? as if. one time my dad made me install a new power socket because we ran our of extension cords

[chiral-dimensions]

With well-water like this I don't think I'm at any risk if iron deficiency ænemia.

[greencatalystcomet]

do my fellow midwesterners ever talk to people from a midwest state but more urban and youre like. okay. are we really both from the midwest? bc like youre SAYING you are but you also refuse to drink well water so do we really have any midwest things in common?

[ivy-night]

Well water taste better than city water

[stickwalk]

the place i’m at has well water which wouldn’t be an issue if it wasn’t the type to makes your hair soft meaning all my hair is sticking to itself and knotting badly and uuuuueeeegggghh i just want brush my hair and have stay brushed fro five minutes

[demaparbat-hp]

He truly did.

[orpheus-has-lyreizz]

🎶Oh, could it be some kind of sign

that my husband's gone insane🎶

[morelanaxu]

[aliquistis]

I love how bad Astarion is with his cover story. You meet him and he's like "I'm a magistrate" then he stealths, disarms a trap, double dashes and backstabs a goblin all while giggling about spilling blood and you're just like hm yeah that's the legal system for you

[punk-pins]

“what was in the air in the early 2000s” well famously there was the airplane.

[hinamie]

thank u canon plant nerd megumi for my life

bonus:

[opens-up-4-nobody]

:-P