Certified Well Sampler Training in St. Louis

[James H. Bushart]

Get Ready......
Set aside Saturday, 10/21/06, for some training and fun as NACHI's Joe Farsetta comes to St. Louis.

Joe will be providing an exclusive opportunity to be among the first to become a "Certified Well Sampler" through his comprehensive seminar.

The training will begin at 8:30 a.m., following a continental breakfast and a meet and greet with Joe, and will last until 4:00 p.m.

The training will be held at the Holiday Inn Select in St. Peters, MO., where our previous meetings have been held.
As always, this training is free to all members of NACHI and $100 to all non-members, with the fee applicable toward NACHI membership if you decide to join.

Come prepared to learn and to make additional dollars by adding this much needed service to your inspections.

[James H. Bushart]

More news on this course....

Although there is no final word, yet, the Missouri Deparment of Health and Senior Services (who licenses inspectors for septic systems and waste water) have asked for the opportunity to review this course for possibly providing CEUs to licensees who attend. They have also suggested review by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for inclusion in their programs, as well.

Missouri shares EPA concerns for the safety of its private well water and appears anxious to have this program available.

I will be publishing, in a variety of area media, the need for this service and the benefit to Missourians who contract the services of a NACHI Certified Well Water specialist.

Hope to see you there.

[James H. Bushart]

In today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Thousands drink from unregulated private wells
By Clay Barbour
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Sunday, Sep. 10 2006

Clean water is something most people take for granted. Turn the spigot on and
like magic, fresh cold water travels from some treatment plant on the far side
of town, up through the ground and into the sink.

Whenever something bad happens - such as in July

There are about 800,000 private wells in Missouri and Illinois, serving about 3
million people. And in truth, that's little more than an educated guess.
Missouri started keeping track in 1987. Illinois started in the mid-'60s.

Officials say records before that are spotty, at best.

Regardless, whether the existing wells provide clean, safe water depends almost
entirely on the vigilance of owners.

Robert Kiesel recently bought a house in Wildwood. One day while inspecting his
yard, he noticed the cap was off his well.

"My wife was convinced a chipmunk had fallen in," he said.

So Kiesel had his water checked at the St. Louis County Health Department and
discovered that his well needed a strong chlorine treatment to kill off the
high levels of bacteria.

"I'm not worried about it," he said. "But my wife is. She's a chemist, and she
knows everything that could go wrong with water. So I'll keep an eye on it."

The federal government is currently working on a nationwide survey of drinking
water. Until now, there has been no such study.

There are about 1,800 private wells in St. Louis County. In the past three
years, officials have performed 266 water quality tests, 40 percent of which
failed because of high levels of coliform bacteria.

Across the river there are more than 10,000 wells in Madison and St. Clair
counties. Along with Monroe and Randolph counties, the two make up a region
that has been cited for having the "high potential" for groundwater
contamination.

St. Clair does not offer water testing. Officials do give free kits and
applications for people who want the state to test their water.

Madison County, which has about 5,400 private wells, offers free testing to
residents once a year, but few get them. Officials have performed 135 water
quality tests so far this year, of which about 40 percent failed.

"I would imagine that most of the people who get their water tested think they
might have a problem," said Mike Hungerford, Madison's environmental health
services manager. "But there are probably a lot of people out there who think
their water is OK, when it's not."