Five Potential Dangers to Your Ground Water
 

Wellhead protection is a way to prevent contamination of ground water used as a drinking water source by protecting and properly managing the land activities that take place near the water supply wells - the wellhead.  Once ground water is contaminated, it is very difficult and expensive to clean up.  Please take care of the ground water - it's up to each of us to make sure there is Safe Water for the Future.

Motor Oil and Antifreeze

 

By distributing this information your water supplier is helping protect your drinking water.
 

• If not properly handled, used motor oil can get into the ground water supply, causing serious contamination problems. Take your used motor oil to a recycling depot for recycling. Do not use it to reduce dust on dirt or gravel roads and driveways. Do not use it as a weed killer.

• Anti-freeze is very toxic to animals, a health hazard to humans, and can easily contaminate ground water supplies if allowed to seep into the ground. Recycle antifreeze from radiator flushing and NEVER pour it into gutters or storm drains.

Household Hazardous Products

• Do not dispose of hazardous materials by pouring them down the sink or toilet. If you are on a septic system, the septic system will not break these chemicals down and the chemicals may damage the viability of the system. If you are on a sewer system the sewage treatment plant may be damaged by the hazardous chemicals, as well. Contact your local solid waste district for information on hazardous materials disposal and recycling.

• Never pour hazardous chemicals on the ground, into storm drains, or into catch basins. The chemicals can find their way into the ground water or local streams and rivers.

• Use fertilizers and pesticides only when necessary and follow label directions carefully. Avoid applying chemicals when rain is expected. The rain will wash the chemicals into streams and rivers or force it to enter the ground water, where it will not help the plants, but will contaminate your drinking water.

• Buy the least toxic product available for controlling garden pests and weeds. Use biodegradable products whenever possible.

• Use mulching and mechanical weeding instead of chemicals whenever possible.

• Dispose of left-over chemicals safely. (Call your solid waste management district for information on recycling hazardous materials. They should be listed in your local phone directory under County Government)

Septic Systems

• Have your septic system inspected every year to make sure it is operating effectively. Have the septic tank pumped at least every three years to remove accumulated sludge.

• Be careful of what you dispose of in your septic system. Some products like disposable diapers and coffee grounds do not decompose readily and can clog your system. Never dispose of toxic or hazardous waste in your septic system. These can enter the groundwater and can damage your septic system.

• Consider installing a tank effluent filter to protect your leaching field.

• Practice water conservation to avoid overworking your system and to extend its life.

• Locate and plug abandoned wells. One way for contaminants to enter the water supply is by flowing directly into an aquifer through an old well. There are many old homesteads and farmsteads that have been incorporated into larger properties. Each of these had a well at one time. Those old wells pose a threat to the drinking water supply because they are direct links from the surface to the aquifer that provides drinking water.