Private well owners get help on how to protect themselves from harmful contaminants in drinking water

A new free online tool helps private well owners interpret their water testing results and learn how to protect themselves from harmful contaminants in drinking water. The new tool is available at http://privatewells.silentspring.org/.

When private well owners get their lab results from routine water testing, they often have questions about how to use the information to improve their drinking water quality. The new private wells tool, developed by Silent Spring Institute, provides an additional layer of interpretation to help owners better understand their results and know how to act on them.

How it works:

• Enter your results (for up to fifteen drinking water contaminants) from a water testing lab and receive a personalized report
• Explore the report’s interactive graphs to see how your results compare with drinking water guidelines and with public water supplies in Massachusetts
• Get information on health effects, pollution sources, and water treatment options

Silent Spring has more than two decades of experience studying contaminants in drinking water—in both public and private water wells—as well as identifying sources of contamination. The tool draws upon the Institute’s pioneering work on developing best practices for sharing chemical exposure results with the public.

“We believe it’s important that private well owners have all the information they need to make the best decisions to protect their well water and their health,” says environmental chemist Laurel Schaider, PhD, who leads Silent Spring’s water quality research program.

For more information, contact: water@silentspring.org