In Iowa, Midwest USA we have a serious problem as in my Civil Rights suit to get the list of contaminants the IDNR repeatedly condemns Iowans private wells, are not given to that well owner.  And well owners until this past winter were not told to test for anything except Nitrates and Bacteria. Also the IDNR always told us to Chlorinate when our wells' bacteria levels were up.  Now the IDNR is starting to advise private well owners to do 3 tests (Nitrates, Bacteria, and one other of the over 600+ tests for Arsenic , As+3, that is being pulled into our Aquifers from bedrock).  Our main well contaminants were Anhydrous Ammonia and CAFO Nitrogen fertilizers and the Arsenic and Lead that Ammonia Nitrogen as N pulls into our drinking water.  We are not being told to test for Ammonia Nitrogen as N before we Chlorinate for the CAFO bacteria which can create high levels of Trihalomethanes and large piles of dead animals.   Because of the Non-Enforcement of Iowa's Drainage Laws and the Clean Water Act by the State of Iowa and IDNR and the USDA-NRCS Iowans are drinking Anhydrous Ammonia Nitrogen fertilizer at increasing levels up to 12.2 in our Mitchell County wells in this one Plume that has contaminated wells in 4 Counties Downstream.   Even though the Nitrate test that is more indicative of the levels of Pesticides and herbicides in our Source Water (Atrazine a herbicide tested at 80 times the EPA MCL in our Source Water) the Nitrogen Spectrum tests are more or just as important to water quality especially if you live Downstream in a large agricultural area. Test for Ammonia Nitrogen as Nitrogen before you Chlorinate and the Trihalomethanes affect you and your family's health.

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In Iowa, Midwest USA we have a serious problem as in my Civil Rights suit to get the list of contaminants the IDNR repeatedly condemns Iowans private wells, are not given to that well owner.  And well owners until this past winter were not told to test for anything except Nitrates and Bacteria. Also the IDNR always told us to Chlorinate when our wells' bacteria levels were up.  Now the IDNR is starting to advise private well owners to do 3 tests (Nitrates, Bacteria, and one other of the over 600+ tests for Arsenic , As+3, that is being pulled into our Aquifers from bedrock). 

Our main well contaminants were Anhydrous Ammonia and CAFO Nitrogen fertilizers and the Arsenic and Lead that Ammonia Nitrogen as N pulls into our drinking water.  We are not being told to test for Ammonia Nitrogen as N before we Chlorinate for the CAFO bacteria which can create high levels of Trihalomethanes and large piles of dead animals.  

Because of the Non-Enforcement of Iowa's Drainage Laws and the Clean Water Act by the State of Iowa and IDNR and the USDA-NRCS Iowans are drinking Anhydrous Ammonia Nitrogen fertilizer at increasing levels up to 12.2 in our Mitchell County wells in this one Plume that has contaminated wells in 4 Counties Downstream.  

Even though the Nitrate test that is more indicative of the levels of Pesticides and herbicides in our Source Water (Atrazine a herbicide tested at 80 times the EPA MCL in our Source Water) the Nitrogen Spectrum tests are more or just as important to water quality especially if you live Downstream in a large agricultural area.

Test for Ammonia Nitrogen as Nitrogen before you Chlorinate and the Trihalomethanes affect you and your family's health.

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In the USA the EPA has not set MCL's for Anhydrous Ammonia Nitrogen fertilizer that the Big Oil Corps make, but it is testing at increasingly higher levels in our aquifers or groundwater.  The use of that fertilizer has increased and larger Corporate farmers have increased their use and improper application of Anhydrous Ammonia and the CAFO Nitrogen fertilizers.

However, the Nitrogen fertilizer 5 Spectrum tests are not even being suggested to a private well owner as the Iowa DNR does not consider Nitrogen to be a threat to our water quality and health.  Meanwhile the IDNR tells us private well owners to test for only Nitrates and Bacteria.  Which I was doing and was having my well reports withheld when the Nitrates tested high over 95 pml or less even at about 45 pml.  Atrazine was tested at 80 times the EPA MCL for it in our drinking water.  And after I did my first Ammonia Nitrogen as N test in 2004 I became more concerned about the 5 Nitrogen fertilizer Spectrum tests, as the Ammonia levels were increasing and the Iowa DNR kept telling us to Chlorinate for the CAFO bacteria.  The Ammonia and Chlorine caused Trihalomethanes and that gas in your shower reminded me of a dictator's death camp showers.

Since I have learned the hard way (loss of health, family, neighbors, and farm animals and pets), I wish you would realize the significance of the Nitrogen fertilizer contamination. As we should be told to test for Ammonia Nitrogen as N before we Chlorinate in the State of Iowa, especially in the Plume from Mitchell County, down through Floyd, Butler, Bremer, and in October of 2015 the Nitrogen fertilizers took out one of the City of Waterloo's wells in this one Plume.  Go to www.IowaColdCases.org and look up my son Adam Michael Lack's Cold Case file titled "A Dead Zone Death".

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Hi Veronica, Wow, you certainly have some challenges. In my experience, wells and boreholes are very misunderstood and suffer from being the poor relation to the large river and impounding reservoir abstractions. The water quality risks posed from natural and anthropogenic risks are real and manageable if everyone works together. There's been lots of work done in the UK for all our sources since the introduction of Drinking Water Safety Plans and with the revised private water supply regulations which were introduced in 2009 and recently updated in 2016. Our water quality regulator, the Drinking Water Inspectorate has lots of useful information which could be helpful to you. Check out www.dwi.gov.uk The guidance section under legislation on the RH drop down menu contains lots of useful info. Kind Regards Helen

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