'Well'… now what?

More than half of the private water wells in the region don't meet public drinking water standards.

Final testing results were released last week for McKean County and will soon be made public for Potter and Cameron counties.

Hundreds of wells in the three counties have been tested for the presence of coliform bacteria, Ecoli, pH, total dissolved solids, corrosivity, arsenic, barium, chloride and nitrates. Once all of the results are reported from the three counties, it will be up to county officials to determine what to do.

Those actions could be a long-term public health study, a public education campaign to encourage residents to monitor and protect their wells, or a county ordinance regulating well drilling.

In McKean County, coliform bacteria was found in 62.5 percent of the wells. E-coli, which is more serious than coliform, was present in eleven percent of the samples. It is found only in human and animal wastes. Some of the sources of bacterial pollution include runoff from woodlands, pastures and feedlots; septic tanks and sewage plants; droppings from animals and wild fowl or decaying animals.

Getting rid of bacteria in the systems can be accomplished by using shock chlorination, UV sterilizers, or sanitary well caps.

Penn State Cooperative Extension recommends that people inspect their private water wells every 14 months. Testing for E-coli and coliform should be done annually and every three years for pH and total dissolved solids.

More than one million private water wells in Pennsylvania serve 3.5 million people in rural areas, with about 20,000 new wells drilled each year. Private wells don't have to meet the standards and regulations that public water systems do.