Well sampling course coming to a NACHI Chapter near you.

[Nick Gromicko]

http://www.nachi.org/hitwell.htm

[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]

Sunday'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."

[James H. Bushart]

Number of private water wells in Illinois and Missouri -

Estimated number of private wells in the region


09/10/2006

Estimated number of private wells in the region:

St. Louis: 4

St. Louis County: 1,834

St. Charles County: 2,121

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Lincoln County: 2,352

Jefferson County: 5,347

Warren County: 1,637

Franklin County: 5,395

St. Clair County: 5,018

Madison County: 5,400

Monroe County: 5,000

Source: Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Illinois Department of Public Health, St. Louis County Health

[James H. Bushart]

How each county handles water testing:

How each area handles private well water testing

09/10/2006

How each area handles private well water testing:

St. Louis: Does not test.

St. Louis County: Health department will test water: Cost: $15.

St. Charles County: Health department offers kit. Owner sends kit to state for checking. Cost: $10.

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Lincoln County: Health department offers kit. Will send sample to state. Cost: $10.

Jefferson County: Health department will test water. Cost: $12.

Warren County: Health department offers kit. Will send sample to state. Cost: $10.

Franklin County: Health department offers kit. Will send sample to state. Cost $10.

St. Clair County: Health department offers kit. Owner must send samples to state. Cost: $12.

Madison County: Health department checks residents water. Cost: Free.

Monroe County: Health department offers kit. Resident must mail sample off. Cost: Postage.

[Dale Duffy]

I would have to put well water testing in the same category as mold, a lawsuit just waiting to happen.

I wonder what E&O providers would think of such testing?

Have you looked into that James?

[dbush]

Dale, the best way to do this is to offer water SAMPLING, not testing. You take the samples and put them into a proper lab specimen kit, then send the water to a State Certified Lab who then provides you with the results. You are only sampling, not testing.

[Dale Duffy]

Originally Posted by dbush

Dale, the best way to do this is to offer water SAMPLING, not testing. You take the samples and put them into a proper lab specimen kit, then send the water to a State Certified Lab who then provides you with the results. You are only sampling, not testing.

Dave,

I'll rephrase the question.

I wonder what Allan Insurance Group would say if I told them I wanted to take well water samples? And send them to a lab.

This sounds to me like the amount of money such sampling would generate would not offset the amount a lawsuit could generate.

I'm not a water specialist, but I would have to guess there are thousands of possible contaminates, which might not be in the water the day of testing but could be tomorrow.

[Dale Duffy]

I would rather inspect a home with two Zinsco's a FPE panel feeding the leaking pool, connected to single strand Aluminum wiring in a home with leaking galvanized pipe being heated with a non-vented gas wall heater than take a sample of their water for a few bucks, but that's just me.

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by dduffy

I would rather inspect a home with two Zinsco's a FPE panel feeding the leaking pool, connected to single strand Aluminum wiring in a home with leaking galvanized pipe being heated with a non-vented gas wall heater than take a sample of their water for a few bucks, but that's just me.

Sampling the water will be just a part of the services that could be offered. Go to www.monachi.org and click on "Certified Well Sampler" and get a look at what the training covers. This can give you an idea of what the total services offered could entail.

[Dale Duffy]

Certified by who?

EPA Certified, when the course is completed and the test is passed?

If it is considered "NACHI Certified Well Sampler" that wouldn't amount to a hill of beans in a courtroom, because there is no such thing besides just a name someone came up with.

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by dduffy

Certified by who?

EPA Certified, when the course is completed and the test is passed?

If it is considered "NACHI Certified Well Sampler" that wouldn't amount to a hill of beans in a courtroom, because there is no such thing besides just a name someone came up with.

Well, Dale, I suppose this means we won't be seeing you on 10/21.

Thanks for the input.

As previously published, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has expressed an interest in providing CEU credit to this course for its licensed septic system inspectors and Joe is providing them with the material they requested in order to see that it happens. Our state is pushing to have this long neglected area addressed - by whatever means - be it commercial (my company), individual, or state. The main objective - look at what you are drinking and the equipment supplying it to you.

Competence in this area provides one with the means of offering this service to his customer.

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by dduffy

If it is considered "NACHI Certified Well Sampler" that wouldn't amount to a hill of beans in a courtroom...

If you were being sued for something you did in regard to water sampling, the entity that certified you would be totally irrelevent.

"I PHIC'd up this sample, but it's okay, because I am certified by EPA," has never been a successful defense in court for any profession.

The training that is being offered provides those passing the test with the certification of having the skills to perform the services, competently. Competent performance is the most effective defense from being sued, excluding frivilous litigation. Certain vendors of report writing software will differ with me on this point, but I feel that the written communication ( properly worded pre-inspection agreements and reports) is the second most effective defense. Being "certified" by anyone is no defense.

[James H. Bushart]

One last point I would like to make is why I am so anxious to add this service for my client.

Home inspections prevent the potential loss of money or other property, which is important - however, the most beautiful and well constructed home that sits on a contaminated water supply could result in the permanent loss of health and/or life....making this the most important service that I can offer.

There is a need for this service. There is excellent training available (free to NACHI members) to help them fill this need.