Your Spring Grove well is capped and sealed – why worry about contaminants?

That well cap is vital to your Spring Grove
well and the safety of the water you and
your family drink.

There’s a sealed cap on your well out behind your Spring Grove home. The cap sits on top of a pipe that extends down into the ground to your well. Why would you need to worry about water quality?

The truth is that contaminants can find their way into your well in more ways than you might imagine.

Generally speaking, Spring Grove has groundwater that is as good as anyone’s – better than some. But contaminants are insidious in the efforts to invade and contaminate your well. Contaminants include various types of bacteria, radon, organic particles, hazardous waste and chemicals, such as pesticides, fertilizers, and petroleum products.

To keep contaminants out of your Spring Grove well, or detecting them if they get in, there are a few procedures you should follow:

• Make sure your well cap isn’t cracked, loose or has a bad seal
• Have well casing (the pipe extending down to your well water) inspected to ensure it isn’t cracked or otherwise ruptured
• Ensure that your well is a safe distance from septic systems, landfills or other systems using elements that would contaminate your well water (it’s a bit late to consider this if your well and other systems are already in operation in close proximity to each other)
• Don’t install a well in a floodplain as flood waters can seep into the well (also a bit late to consider if the well is already in operation)
• If your well was installed in a floodplain, the well needs to extend higher than the floodplain. If you have an older well, you’ll want to have it checked that it’s of sufficient height while ensuring that the water level didn’t rise higher than the well cap so that contaminants could get in.

The last point is really a key principle in general. Well maintenance is a great way to ensure that your well system is operating at peak performance with the greatest durability. Having the well water tested annually, along with having your well chlorinated each year, is the best way to ensure that your Spring Grove well water stays healthy and clean. It’s also a good idea to have the charge checked in your well tank.

A qualified well technician can chlorinate and maintain your well, while testing your well water in the winter, as well as the warmer months. Spring is also a good time to have your well maintained and your well water tested.