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Post by dtucker on Jun 22, 2012 4:43:48 GMT -7
The day before yesterday, I got home and there was a letter from the EPA just place in my mailbox, not mailed, that said they wanted to come check our well water. I called the number and the guy said that bout a mile from my house the wells there tested positive for Lindane en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindaneand Toxaphene en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ToxapheneThe gentlemen said that people in those homes have been put on bottled water and told to take quick showers and not to use it otherwise. Now they are closer to the source than me but this is still scary. I love living in a farming community but this really ticks me off. Apparently both chemicals have been banned. The problem area is near a landing strip used to land crop dusters and they have had reports from neighbors that the people that owned the property used to have open dumping and would dump vats of "stuff" when they didn't need it. We started on bottled water as soon as I read the letter before I even talked to the guy, they are suppose to come and test within a month. We are not even bathing in it. And I have just last month put up about another 50 gallons of water storage. Now I want to throw away my coffee pot and tea pitcher and just get new ones. I have already replaced the dogs water bowls and give them bottled water to. We have only lived here a little over a year, so maybe that hasn't been long enough for anything to build up. Anybody here ever had to deal with anything like this?
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Post by mud on Jun 22, 2012 5:48:10 GMT -7
Maybe CWI will chime in...he had a couple great posts on the oher forum about dealing with bad water....maybe it was Celticwarrior... anyway i remember reading them.
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Post by cowgirlup on Jun 22, 2012 6:40:41 GMT -7
I don't know that I would panic just yet. You're a mile away and hopefully the ground has filtered most of that out before it got to your water source. Didn't they do a water quality test when you bought the house? It sounds like the dumping wasn't recent. You'd think it would have shown up then unless it's just slowly making it's way towards you.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2012 7:16:42 GMT -7
I don't know that I would panic just yet. You're a mile away and hopefully the ground has filtered most of that out before it got to your water source. Didn't they do a water quality test when you bought the house? It sounds like the dumping wasn't recent. You'd think it would have shown up then unless it's just slowly making it's way towards you. The big problem with DEEP wells is that a lot of them are on the same squafier deep underground. My deep well is in one that covers most of central Missouri. Something could happen 5 counties away and have an affect on my water, depending on what it is. All of the county and local water companies are hooked to it as well...this is why mine was initially run so much deeper than the water level and made so the pump could be dropped another 200'...just in case the ater level drops If she is on a large aquafier like I am, it may be that the whole thing is contaminated. I would take a water sample and have it tested and do this myself regularly on mine anyways. Many companies that do water softener systems and such will test water for all kinds of things, including things you request specifically. Would suck to find out nothing was wrong and its some jerkwad trying to scare people into going to a public utility system...or something like that. Better safe than sorry...take a sample and get it checked.
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Post by Cwi555 on Jun 22, 2012 7:53:15 GMT -7
Maybe CWI will chime in...he had a couple great posts on the other forum about dealing with bad water....maybe it was Celticwarrior... anyway i remember reading them. I know which thread your thinking of, it was started by 'Slade N. Illinois' with CW answering, TJ, and myself, so maybe those two can chime in. (It was regarding a River in Illinois that was contaminated.) as I recall, it was TJ that was the prime contributor on that one. Dink has made a good point regarding deep wells, distance doesn't really help. I would suggest approaching the problem as if the you were pumping your water from the river across form a shut down chemical plant that is leaking. The kind of contamination your speaking of, is some of the worst kind. A river at least flows on the surface, after some time, it will either settle, or simply flush the worst of it down stream. Deep well water aquifers have a nasty habit of spreading and sticking around, so I would not assume the water you have is unaffected, nor would I assume that even if you tested it clear, that it will stay that way. The good news is, both Lindane and Toxaphene are treated via granulated activated carbon. Simply running it through an activated carbon filter will clear that concern. water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/lindane.cfmwater.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/toxaphene.cfmOf all the possible chemical contaminants, at least that one can be filtered relatively cheaply via inline activated carbon filter systems. It sucks, but it could have been worse.
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Post by dtucker on Jun 22, 2012 8:22:17 GMT -7
I don't know that I would panic just yet. You're a mile away and hopefully the ground has filtered most of that out before it got to your water source. Didn't they do a water quality test when you bought the house? It sounds like the dumping wasn't recent. You'd think it would have shown up then unless it's just slowly making it's way towards you. We are only renting and the landlord didn't do anything when we moved in. He is mad because he wasn't notified, but they didn't mail out the forms just drove around in the area and talked to people. We live in an building that has been converted from a forestry station into a home. It was basically 2 offices and our landlord added a kitchen and a tub. No the dumping was in the 1970's from what I have been told but it is showing up in wells around the air strip.
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Post by Cwi555 on Jun 22, 2012 8:27:30 GMT -7
If I am not mistaken, it is illegal to simply put something in a mailbox like that.
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Post by dtucker on Jun 22, 2012 8:28:41 GMT -7
I don't know that I would panic just yet. You're a mile away and hopefully the ground has filtered most of that out before it got to your water source. Didn't they do a water quality test when you bought the house? It sounds like the dumping wasn't recent. You'd think it would have shown up then unless it's just slowly making it's way towards you. The big problem with DEEP wells is that a lot of them are on the same squafier deep underground. My deep well is in one that covers most of central Missouri. Something could happen 5 counties away and have an affect on my water, depending on what it is. All of the county and local water companies are hooked to it as well...this is why mine was initially run so much deeper than the water level and made so the pump could be dropped another 200'...just in case the ater level drops If she is on a large aquafier like I am, it may be that the whole thing is contaminated. I would take a water sample and have it tested and do this myself regularly on mine anyways. Many companies that do water softener systems and such will test water for all kinds of things, including things you request specifically. Would suck to find out nothing was wrong and its some jerkwad trying to scare people into going to a public utility system...or something like that. Better safe than sorry...take a sample and get it checked. I have no idea how deep the well is or any other specifics about the building since this is an old forestry station I am assuming that the well was put in by whoever the state hired. the building is about 40 years old. I will be taking my own samples to be tested. I am not waiting around on them. I need to know now. The guy said that if it tests positive they will provide us with bottled water and then a filter for the well, unless it is too high then they would try to get us hooked up to a water main if we are close enough. I don't think we are. We are in a really rural area.
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Post by dtucker on Jun 22, 2012 8:36:34 GMT -7
Maybe CWI will chime in...he had a couple great posts on the other forum about dealing with bad water....maybe it was Celticwarrior... anyway i remember reading them. I know which thread your thinking of, it was started by 'Slade N. Illinois' with CW answering, TJ, and myself, so maybe those two can chime in. (It was regarding a River in Illinois that was contaminated.) as I recall, it was TJ that was the prime contributor on that one. Dink has made a good point regarding deep wells, distance doesn't really help. I would suggest approaching the problem as if the you were pumping your water from the river across form a shut down chemical plant that is leaking. The kind of contamination your speaking of, is some of the worst kind. A river at least flows on the surface, after some time, it will either settle, or simply flush the worst of it down stream. Deep well water aquifers have a nasty habit of spreading and sticking around, so I would not assume the water you have is unaffected, nor would I assume that even if you tested it clear, that it will stay that way. The good news is, both Lindane and Toxaphene are treated via granulated activated carbon. Simply running it through an activated carbon filter will clear that concern. water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/lindane.cfmwater.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/toxaphene.cfmOf all the possible chemical contaminants, at least that one can be filtered relatively cheaply via inline activated carbon filter systems. It sucks, but it could have been worse. THANK YOU SO MUCH, I have been doing some research but this helped me out so much. I will be checking today about getting my own test run and if needed a carbon filter. Then checking it on a regular basis until I move.
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Post by dtucker on Jun 22, 2012 8:38:03 GMT -7
If I am not mistaken, it is illegal to simply put something in a mailbox like that. I thought that too, but didn't ask him about it. I know he talked to the neighbors that were home and who ever wasn't home he just put the papers in the mailbox
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Post by Cwi555 on Jun 22, 2012 8:43:39 GMT -7
I would consider having activated carbon sealed and on hand anyway. Dollar for dollar, it is the most effective filtration system dollar for dollar. It won't catch everything, but it will catch a lot.
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Post by dtucker on Jun 22, 2012 8:44:24 GMT -7
In think I used those filters when I worked in the biotech lab to make DI water. I need to check into this more. Thanks everybody, I am a nervous wreck. I didn't want to be in this area anyway, this just makes me want to move even more
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Post by angelhelp on Jun 22, 2012 9:13:53 GMT -7
If I am not mistaken, it is illegal to simply put something in a mailbox like that. That is correct. I am quoting Airborne right now; he is a carrier here in CT. "The letter carrier, upon arrival, is supposed to remove ANY mail or other items he/she did not place there him/herself. This includes such items as business cards, pamphlets, letters, bulletins, invitations, etc. If correct postage has been applied to the item, the letter carrier may leave it in the mailbox, but more likely will remove it, adding it to the tub containing 'outgoing mail' that resides in the postal vehicle. During Advent and Christmas, bonuses left in the mailbox for one's own carrier may be removed by the substitute carrier. Sometimes the substitute is aware of the content of the item and will leave it for the regular carrier back at the office. [Carriers work 5 days per week, but since mail is delivered for 6, there is a substitute at least one day each week, more if the regular carrier is ill or on vacation.] Sometimes the Christmas bonus is placed in the outgoing mail tub. Even if the regular carrier's name is on the envelope, it likely won't have postage on it. Whatever city serves as the outgoing mail processing plant for a particular state is where the bonus goes. If it cannot be determined who 'sent' the envelope, it is opened. It then becomes a bonus for whoever opened it." Edited after a reread wherein I discovered a word was missing.
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Post by cowgirlup on Jun 22, 2012 12:22:10 GMT -7
OK, I wasn't thinking about the large aquafiers that many tap into. I hope it turns out OK or that the filters will take care of it
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Post by mud on Jun 22, 2012 12:43:07 GMT -7
Thanks CWI. That is the thread I was thinking of but I wasnt sure who started it just there was some good input. Remember tj having a good bit as well. Like i said in another post i generally remember everything but the details elude me sometimes
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