Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
Nearly a quarter of local wells tested through a free program offered to Sweet Home-area residents last month indicated higher levels of arsenic than the recommended safety standard for arsenic in public water systems.
Gail Glick Andrews, an Oregon State University professor who runs the university extension’s Oregon Well Water Program, said that arsenic was detected in 31 of 84 local wells tested in February. Of those, 20 exceeded the 10 parts per billion standard currently in use, while five samples exceeded the old safety standard of 50 parts per billion.
The highest result was 175 parts per billion, said Kevin Strong, of the Sweet Home Rotary Club, which arranged for the tests.
He said three of the five wells that exceeded the 50 parts per billion mark were located on North River Drive, but specific addresses are not being made available.
“We knew that there was arsenic in the area and we were concerned that a number of people may not know whether they have arsenic or not,” Andrews said.
She said no arsenic at all was detected in 53 of the wells tested. Eleven of those tested fell below the current safety standard, she said, noting that the test cannot detect the presence of arsenic below four parts per billion.
Andrews also said that there was very little nitrate detected in the tests – “three or four, maybe five samples, very low levels.” Nitrates are caused by fertilizers and the breakdown of organic materials such as fecal matter, coliform bacteria, and arsenic. Nitrates can cause sickness, particularly in infants.
Several tests indicated the presence of e. coli bacteria and 25 indicated coliform bacteria, which comes from fecal matter and simply indicate “the health of the individual well,” she said.
“It’s essentially what I would expect,” Andrews said. “The bacteria results didn’t have anything to do with geography.”
She said the Rotary Club tests were unique in her experience with the OSU well program, which is ending later this year due to dried-up funding. She said most of the free testing her department does is for nitrates and, in some cases, for bacteria. She said the arsenic testing was a new opportunity.
“When Kevin from the Rotary approached me and said they’d like to have this done in the community, I could justify spending the time on this because we had some community partners to make this happen.
For more on the well program, including information on testing and water well health, visit http://wellwater.oregonstate.edu.