Water Quality Testing

Although public water suppliers do test their provided water supply regularly, most dangers within drinking water tend to come from inside the home’s pipelines.  Lead, copper, and other substances can leach into drinking water over time and can cause serious health issues.  The EPA recommends annual water quality testing for all home, which should include tests for total coliform bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids and pH levels.

Because there is no public water authority constantly testing your well water, maintaining the quality of your family’s drinking water is up to you.  Even if a prior test found no contaminates, well water quality can change with almost no indication to the user.  Changes in weather, water table adjustments and neighboring activity (e.g. agriculture) can all effect the quality of drinking water that comes from wells. Internal dangers within our homes can also lead to low quality drinking water.  We recommend testing your drinking water every year.

Certain chemical contaminants, or excessive metals (like copper and lead), are sometimes present in our drinking water but we would never know it by taste or by looking at the water.  Continued use of contaminated water can lead to long-term health problems that many not be detectable until years after the effects have taken place.

Yes, you have the right to test (and you should test) the water quality of any property before you purchase it. Most sales contracts include an inspections contingency, allowing the buyer to walk away from the deal if a significant issues arise with the home.  Talk to your real estate professional if you have reason to be concerned about the water quality, to include this contingency in you offer.  Knowing in advance about the presence of lead or harmful bacteria in your water supply could prevent major costs in remediation later on.

First, our technician will spend 30-60 minutes at the property to collect samples.  Next, the sample are turned into the laboratory for testing, with results coming back anywhere from 2-7 days later.  This varies according to the overall number of samples being tested and what type of testing is being performed.  Finally, our Water Screening Report will be emailed to you the very next business day after the results come back from the laboratory.

The Water Screening Report will show where the sample(s) were collected from the property, the different levels of contamination, and what steps to take if materials or bacteria exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s “take action level”.

Our testing protocols meets all requires for testing during a real estate transaction in Oregon, as well as the EPA and Oregon Health Authority testing standards.

Our team works directly with homeowners, builders/developers, and Realtors.  When your Water Screening Report is complete, we will provide a copy to your Realtor if you like.  If the Report shows excessive levels of unwanted materials and/or bacteria, and actions are recommended to make the water safe to drink, your Realtor will need our detailed report to use when negotiating to purchase of the property.

If your water does contain high levels of contaminates, our report will show recommended action steps to take.  Such steps may include any of the following:

• Contact one of our recommend contractor to repair/replace  waterline(s)
• Discontinue use of that tap or waterline
• Monitor the water or test again in the future
• Other

Based on our findings and recommendations, you the choice of how/if you move forward.  Ultimately, regulation the quality of the water coming out of your taps is your decision as the owner of the property.

The cost associated with improving your water quality will vary based on the home’s size, construction style, foundation type, and more.  It will also depend on the type of contamination present, and how it is getting into the water.  In extreme cases, re-piping of the home is the only solution to the problem.  An upfront quote is always the best way to determine exactly what to budget for the work.  The decision will always be yours to make, in terms of what action to take after receiving the Water Screening Report for your home.