Be Well Informed: A Web Tool for Private Well Owners 3/24/2065 Pierce Rigrod, DWGB, NH DES (603-271-0688) PIERCE.RIGROD@DES.NH.GOV

Probable Exposure to Arsenic - High Exposure to some level of As through private well water is high in most of NH. 1 in 5 wells is estimated to be over the 10 PPB limit. The need to determine treatment should be relatively high.

Statewide Averages: Estimated % of Private Wells Above MCL Beyond arsenic, there are other contaminants that DES recommends private well owners test for. Here are the average frequencies of occurrence based upon lab results from several sources. Source of Data: Green = DES lab; Blue = USGS; Red = DES 2000 Strategy Source of Data: Green = DES lab; Blue = USGS; Red = DES 2000 Strategy

Tuftonboro, NH (July 2012) Testing When a community completes testing, the next question is, how do I treat my water? The % of wells above the MCL differ from place to place and note the higher than average 34% (vs. 20%) arsenic and lower than average % (24 vs 33 ave) for radon in Tuftonboro. Tuftonboro, NH (July 2012)

High % of As Mistreatment (wrong technology) The statewide survey conducted by Mark Borsuk / Dartmouth in 2014 found rather large percentages of well owners selecting the wrong treatment or mistreating their well water. Be Well Informed was created specifically to help well owners find the right water treatment technology based upon the test results from an accredited lab.

Some Questions NHDES Fields “Arsenic result is 9.9 and 10.1 ug/L, treat water?” “I have 60 ppb As, 0.33 Iron, 0.08 Mn, 131 Hardness, 8 pH, what to do?” “Does arsenic from the shower accumulate on your hair?” “Well disinfected twice; grandson has 'guinea worms‘” And, NHDES fields near 400 calls a year from private well owners. Many involve treatment or health concerns. While the BWI or NHDES cannot answer every question, the application serves to complete several important steps to helping well owners reduce their exposure to arsenic and other contaminants.

Purpose of the Web Tool Provide an interpretation of lab results in terms of water quality standards Provide treatment guidance concerning treatment technologies Provide information on health and home appliance impacts Slide

BWI Treatment Recommendations Recommends appropriate treatment technologies, not products. Addresses treatment for common contaminants (Standard Analysis) Considers one or multiple contaminants at varying concentrations, and well owner feedback (e.g., staining) Yields printable PDF reports Provides links and offers phone support from DES 

BWI requires a lab report that the user must use to type in the results for one or a number of contaminants.

Pop- Up: User Can Enter Fe, Mn Values from Lab Report or aesthetic issues Iron and Mn can affect arsenic treatment. The web tool allows the user to enter these test results to refine treatment recommendations.

As Water Treatment Logic BWI has 15 treatment logic charts – One for each Contaminant The entered values is passed through a treatment logic algorithm that evaluates it as well as other values, in this case for arsenic, the logic chart looks at the iron and manganese values, to make a final treatment decision. Here’s the lower branch to the As logic model.

Printable Web App Report: Part 1: “Results Summary” The product of the BWI app is a report that well users can save, print out and discuss with a treatment vendor. It’s composed of three parts. Part 1 is the “results summary.” this provides an overview of what values user entered or did not enter, where they fall against the standard or guideline, and a short statement, such as, “the value entered is above the standard or guideline, or it meets the standard/guideline. The final report uses icons to help illustrate to the user what the result means, (a red X is not good) and it’s short and to the point.

Part 2: Treatment “Train” Part II is referred to as the treatment train. It presents one or multiple technologies in proper sequence to address the contaminants entered. The programming logic that determines the treatment technologies are then evaluated and presented so that the optimal set of treatment technologies are listed in the train (e.g., one treatment may treat several contaminants vs. a different treatment only treats 1) in the order they would typically be installed in a residential structure.

Part 3: Interpretation, Health, Treatment The Results Detail section contains narrative interpret the water test results (recall the questions NHDES gets)_, providing an overview of known public health concerns when appropriate, and the correct treatment technologies. The language is brief, reflecting the need to get only the essential information to the well owner. There are links to other sites for additional information.

Certified Treatment professionals Certified Treatment products Links to certified water treatment professionals, NSF certified treatment products and background description of treatment technologies are all within the final printable report. Treatment background

~800 users to date