{"id":69572,"date":"2016-06-07T11:19:29","date_gmt":"2016-06-07T15:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=69572"},"modified":"2016-06-06T17:32:14","modified_gmt":"2016-06-06T21:32:14","slug":"not-on-public-water-consider-testing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=69572","title":{"rendered":"Not on Public Water? Consider Testing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"well<\/a>Did you know that if you drink water from a residential well, it should be tested every year to make\u00a0sure it is safe to drink? Did you know that water quality from a spring continually changes and may\u00a0present a significant health risk? The only way to know if your water is safe to drink is to get it tested.<\/p>\n

While public water systems are routinely testing for compliance with state drinking water regulations,\u00a0the testing of water from individual wells or springs is the responsibility of each homeowner. If you do\u00a0not receive a water bill, you may get your drinking water from well or spring and should consider\u00a0testing.<\/p>\n

Through a grant provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Madison\u00a0County Health Department is providing FREE testing of residential wells, and other self-supplied water\u00a0sources (also called individual onsite water systems) to Madison County residents.<\/p>\n

Water testing is quick and easy. Simply contact the Madison County Health Department, and a\u00a0member of our staff will arrange a visit to collect a water sample from your water system for testing.<\/p>\n

Our professional staff will explain your test results to you and provide you with recommendations on\u00a0how to improve the safety and\/or quality of your water. A copy of the certified laboratory test results\u00a0will also be provided to you.<\/p>\n

The risk of your water becoming contaminated depends on several characteristics of your individual\u00a0onsite water system including \u2014 how well it was built and where it is located, how well the source is\u00a0protected, and how well water treatment is maintained. Your water quality also depends on your local\u00a0environment, which can affect the quality of the water source from which you draw your water. Local\u00a0activities including industrial, agricultural and human activities that occur in your area, could\u00a0potentially impact the water you drink.<\/p>\n

Madison County Health Department recommends testing your individual water system:<\/p>\n

\uf0b7 Yearly for total coliform bacteria and nitrate. Coliform bacteria don’t usually cause illness, but they serve\u00a0as an indicator that disease causing organisms can get into your well. Nitrates leach very easily through\u00a0the soil to groundwater from farms, gardens, septic systems, animal yards, and manure piles. Nitrates\u00a0are a health threat to infants consuming water (e.g. formula fed infants) with high levels.<\/p>\n

\uf0b7 Whenever you notice a change in taste or color of the water;<\/p>\n

\uf0b7 After work on the water system;<\/p>\n

\uf0b7 If you notice the well cap is not secure;<\/p>\n

\uf0b7 If you notice surface water standing around the base of the well<\/p>\n

Primary funding for this free water testing program is provided through cooperative agreement CDC-\u00a0RFA-15- 1507 between the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Madison County,\u00a0NY Department of Health.<\/p>\n

To request free testing of your individual onsite water system, contact the Madison County Health\u00a0Department\u2019s Environmental Health Division at 315.366.2526.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Did you know that if you drink water from a residential well, it should be tested every year to make\u00a0sure it is safe to drink? Did you know that water quality from a spring continually changes and may\u00a0present a significant health risk? The only way to know if your water is safe to drink is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23810,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellbeing","category-top-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/well-water-banner.jpg?fit=516%2C220&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p43meu-i68","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=69572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/69573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=69572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=69572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=69572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}