Well Water Testing Starts Monday

Free well water testing for nitrates, nitrites, and triazine pesticides will start Monday, July 9. Anyone with a private drinking water well can get water tested by taking samples and returning them to local collection sites by Monday, July 16, between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.

Pick up bottles and sampling directions starting July 9 from the Chippewa/East Mackinac Conservation District office in Sault Ste. Marie and other local sites including Cheboygan Feed Service in Rudyard, Pickford Feed Service in Pickford, Newberry Environmental Health Department, or the Michigan State University Extension offices in St. Ignace and Sault Ste. Marie.

Well testing is recommended for anyone with a private drinking well because groundwater moves through the earth, and picks up substances that leach into the soil. With increased development, there is greater potential for nitrates or nitrites in well water. These substances can come from faulty or mismanaged septic systems, yards that are excessively fertilized, and animal and plant waste. Triazine testing is for one of the common groups of highly leachable weed killers used in some field crops and orchards.

The free water testing service is being provided by Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Program.

For more information, call Christine Perreault, a groundwater technician with Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Program, at (906) 635-2136.