Kane-DuPage Soil and Water Conservation District offers water test kits for private wells
The Kane-DuPage Soil and Water Conservation District is promoting groundwater safety by sponsoring a water testing program to test private wells for nitrates, various pesticides, and metals.
A $45 test kit checks water samples for nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, chloride, sulfate, soluble phosphorus, silica and specific conductivity.
A pesticide screen for $80 will indicate the presence of triazine herbicides and alachlor (Lasso), metolachlor (Dual), and acetochlor (Harness). The metals test is $95 and tests for 23 different metals.
Water test kits are available from the Soil and Water Conservation District, 2315 Dean St., Suite 100, St. Charles, or Kane County Farm Bureau, 2N710 Randall Road, St. Charles from Feb. 24 through March 6.
Water samples must be returned March 9. Kits must be purchased upon pickup.
Heidelberg University Water Quality Laboratory in Tiffin, Ohio will perform the water testing. Results are mailed in 4-6 weeks directly to participants. All results are confidential.
If you have further questions about the program, call the Soil & Water District office at (630) 584-7960, Ext. 3.
The National Center for Water Quality Research at Heidelberg University details the benefits of testing your well water.
If your drinking water comes from a private well, you are responsible for your water's safety.
If you have never had your water supply tested, it is always a good idea to educate yourself on what is present in your drinking water and also provide yourself with some baseline information in the event there are changes in the future that may impact the quality of your water supply.
Your well has an increased likelihood of contamination if your well is more than 20 years old; shallow; or dug or driven rather than drilled. You should test if your soil is sandy or a chemical spill is known to have happened nearby.
Your well is near possible sources of contamination, such as: cropland, feedlots, landfills, or industrial sites, active or abandoned.
Even if your well fits none of these categories, you cannot know the quality of your water without testing. Contaminants may have entered the ground without your knowledge or before you lived at the site. Learn more at ncwqr.org.