Texas Legislation Would Require Water Well Owners to Report Usage Ogallala Aquifer Largest Drop in 25 years

Texas Legislation Would Require Water Well Owners to Report Usage


A Texas bill that would help the state manage how much water it's using was recently introduced.

State Senator Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo) filed a bill, SB 272, requiring most farmers to report their water usage to the Texas Water Development Board.
“It’s important to have an empirical measure of groundwater being removed from the modeled available groundwater,” Seliger said to StateImpact Texas, a reporting project of local public media and NPR. “So we know where we are at all times.”

According to the story, 56% of the water in Texas is used for farming and ranching, and much of that water comes from underground sources. The Ogallala Aquifer in the Texas Panhandle experienced its largest drop in 25 years in 2011.
The story reports that water in many parts of the state is managed by groundwater conservation districts, which number near a 100 and are mostly created by the legislature to help balance water needs and supplies. At the moment, neither the Texas Water Development Board nor groundwater districts require water withdrawal reporting, according to the bill’s analysis by the non-partisan Senate Research Center. Some groundwater districts already require reporting, but this law would make it mandatory. For the full article - Go to

Posted for my personal usage

Western Pennsylvania Baseline Water Testing- Corry, PA - My water is black and discolored

I conducted a presentation in Corry, PA - One homeowner brought in a sample of their water.  The water was slightly discolored and had a black precipitate. In addition the water had a very slight sulfur odor.  What did I find- the testing was conducted at my cost and the data is owned by B.F. Environmental Consultants Inc.

E. Coli. Slime Bacteria Iron Bacteria	Occurrence #/ml #/ml	Absent no standard no standard	Absent 66,500 (High) 140,000 (High)
pH (field)	units	6.5 - 8.5	6.95
Conductivity (field)	uS/cm	no standard	125
Total Dissolved Solids (field – estimate)	mg/L	< 500	205
Aluminum	mg/L	< 0.2	< 0.1
Arsenic	mg/L	< 0.01	0.008
Barium	mg/L	< 2.0	< 0.3
Cadmium	mg/L	< 0.005	< 0.002
Calcium	mg/L	no standard	38.3
Chromium	mg/L	< 0.1	< 0.010
Copper	mg/L	< 1.0	0.142
Iron	mg/L	< 0.3	0.081
Lead	mg/L	< 0.015	< 0.002
Magnesium	mg/L	no standard	14.03
Manganese	mg/L	< 0.05	0.24 (High)
Mercury	mg/L	< 0.002	< 0.001
Nickel	mg/L	no standard	< 0.020
Potassium	mg/L	no standard	2.1
Selenium	mg/L	< 0.05	< 0.020
Silica	mg/L	no standard	16
Silver	mg/L	< 0.100	< 0.002
Sodium	mg/L	no standard	24
Strontium	mg/L	no standard	0.307
Uranium	mg/L	< 0.03	< 0.03
Zinc	mg/L	< 5	0.059
Alkalinity	mg CaCO3/L	no standard	160
Hardness	mg CaCO3/L	no standard	150
Total Dissolved Solids (actual)	mg/L	< 500	210
Turbidity	ntu	< 1.0	0.6
Chloride	mg/L	< 250	5.6
Fluoride	mg/L	< 4	< 0.5
Nitrate as N	mg/L	< 10	< 0.5
Nitrite as N	mg/L	< 1	< 0.5
Orthophosphate	mg/L	no standard	< 2
Sulfate	mg/L	< 250	12
Shock Disinfect			YES
Ratio TDS/ Conductivity	Ratio	no standard	0.5

The main problem

a. Nuisance bacteria - the iron related and slime bacteria are extremely high.  At this level, it is possible to have elevated levels of aluminum, iron, copper, manganese, zinc, and even lead and these organisms can cause MIC (microbiologically induced corrosion).    The level of manganese was elevated.

b.Note the level of arsenic was just below the drinking water standard.  This is one of the reasons that arsenic is recommended as part of the baseline testing.

c. Primary recommendation - shock disinfect the well and retest for bacterial contamination and iron and manganese.

d. Sulfur Odor - the sulfur odor could be related to manganese or could be caused by a bacterial group.

Testing results and data are owned by Mr. Brian Oram and B.F. Environmental Consultants Inc. The results were given to the homeowner for informational purposes only and these results can not be used as part of any legal proceeding or real estate transaction. 

Baseline Testing Results Wayne County Pennsylvania

 Memo

August 18, 2012

To: Wayne County, Manchester Township, PA 18436

From: Brian Oram, PG

B.F. Environmental Consultants Inc.

15 Hillcrest Drive

Dallas, PA 18612

Sample Information- Sample # 1 (Well)
Wayne County, Manchester Township

Site: 

Drilled Well- no data

Purge Time –12/16/2010 at 12:15 am

Estimated – 

Lab Number – XX-XXXX-20101216-PST - Test America / Tetra Tech

Parameter	Result	Standard	Comment
Ethylene Glycol	0.76 mg/L	< 0.3 to 14 mg/L R	Detection Limit Issue
Ethane	< 0.00049 mg/L	no standard	OK
Ethene	< 0.00052 mg/L	no standard	OK
Methane	< 0.00022 mg/L	< 7 mg/L	OK
Propane	< 0.010 mg/L	no standard	OK
Surfactants (MBAS)	< 0.013 mg/L	< 0.5 mg/L	OK
T. Kjeldahl Nitrogen	< 0.15 mg/L	no standard	OK
Radium 226	0.15 pCi/L	< 5 pCi/L	OK
Radium 228	0.06 pCi/L	< 5 pCi/L	OK
Gross Alpha	1.46 pCi/L	< 15 pCi/L	OK
Gross Beta	0.72 pCi/L	< 4 pCi/L	OK

Parameter	Result	Standard	Comment
Thorium	< 0.002 mg/L	see gross alpha	OK
Uranium	0.0011mg/L	< 0.030 mg/L	OK
Thallium	< 0.010 mg/L	< 0.002 mg/L	Detection Limit Issue
Silver	< 0.005 mg/L	< 0.05 to 0.10 mg/L	OK
Aluminum	< 0.200 mg/L	< 0.05 to < 0.2 mg/L	OK
Arsenic	< 0.010 mg/L	< 0.010 mg/L	OK
Barium	< 0.200 mg/L	< 2 mg/L	OK
Beryllium	< 0.004 mg/L	< 0.004 mg/L	OK
Boron	< 0.200 mg/L	< 0.6 mg/L R	OK
Calcium	28.4 mg/L	no standard	OK
Cadmium	< 0.005 mg/L	< 0.005 mg/L	OK
Cobalt	< 0.050 mg/L	< 0.011 mg/L R	OK
Chromium	< 0.005 mg/L	< 0.1 mg/L	OK
Copper	0.0713 mg/L	< 1 mg/L	OK
Potassium	0.660 mg/L	no standard	OK
Lithium	< 0.050 mg/L	< 0.7 mg/L R	OK
Magnesium	3.99 mg/L	no standard	OK
Manganese	0.0012 mg/L	< 0.05 mg/L	OK
Mercury	< 0.0002 mg/L	< 0.002 mg/L	OK
Molybdenum	< 0.040 mg/L	< 0.040 mg/L R	OK
Sodium	4.56 mg/L	no standard	OK
Nickel	< 0.040 mg/L	< 0.1 mg/L	OK
Lead	< 0.003 mg/L	< 0.005 mg/L	OK
Selenium	< 0.005 mg/L	< 0.05 mg/L	OK
Strontium	0.319 mg/L	< 4 mg/L R	OK
Zinc	0.0047 mg/L	< 5 mg/L	OK
Iron, T	< 0.100 mg/L	< 0.3 mg/L	OK
Iron, D	< 0.100 mg/L	< 0.3 mg/L	OK

Parameter	Result	Standard	Comment
pH	7.4	6.5 - 8.5	OK
Acidity	< 5 mg/L	no standard	OK
Ammonia Nitrogen	0.17 mg/L	no standard	OK
Bromide	< 0.20 mg/L	no standard	OK
Chloride	6 mg/L	< 250 mg/L	OK
Hardness, T	84 mg CaCO3/L	no standard	OK
Nitrate-Nitrite	0.17 mg/L	< 10 mg/L	OK
Oil and Grease	< 4.8 mg/L	no standard	OK
Conductance	230 uS/cm	no standard	OK
Sulfate	6.7 mg/L	< 250 mg/L	OK
T. Alkalinity	80.3 mg/L	no standard	OK
T. Dissolved Solids	111	< 500 mg/L	OK
Ratio TDS/ Conductivity	0.48	*****	OK
Total Rec. Phenolics	< 0.010 mg/L	no standard	OK
T. Suspended Solids	< 4 mg/L	no standard	OK

Parameter	Result	Standard	Comment
Benzene	< 0.005 mg/L	< 0.005 mg/L	OK
Ethylbenzene	< 0.005 mg/L	< 0.700 mg/L	OK
Toluene	< 0.005 mg/L	< 1.0 mg/L	OK
T. Xylenes	< 0.015 mg/L	< 10 mg/L	OK
alpha-BHC	< 0.000048 mg/L	no standard	OK
beta-BHC	< 0.000048 mg/L	no standard	OK
delta-BHC	< 0.000048 mg/L	no standard	OK
Lindane	< 0.000048 mg/L	< 0.0002 mg/L	OK
Heptachlor	< 0.000048 mg/L	< 0.0004 mg/L	OK
Aldrin	< 0.000048 mg/L	no standard	OK
Heptachlor epoxide	< 0.000048 mg/L	< 0.0002 mg/L	OK
Endosulfan I	< 0.000048 mg/L	no standard	OK
Dieldrin	< 0.000048 mg/L	no standard	OK
4, 4' DDE	< 0.000048 mg/L	no standard	OK
Endrin	< 0.000048 mg/L	< 0.002 mg/L	OK
Endrin Ketone	< 0.000048 mg/L	no standard	OK
Endrin Aldephyde	< 0.000048 mg/L	no standard	OK
Endosulfan II	< 0.000048 mg/L	no standard	OK
4,4'-DDD	< 0.000048 mg/L	no standard	OK
Endosulfan sulfate	< 0.000048 mg/L	no standard	OK
4,4'-DDT	< 0.000048 mg/L	no standard	OK
Methoxychlor	< 0.000048 mg/L	< 0.040 mg/L	OK
alpha Chlordane	< 0.000095 mg/L	no standard	OK
gamma Chlordane	< 0.000048 mg/L	no standard	OK
Toxaphene	< 0.0038 mg/L	< 0.003 mg/L	OK
2,4-D	< 0.0038 mg/L	< 0.070 mg/L	OK
Dalapon	< 0.0048mg/L	< 0.2 mg/L	OK
2,4-DB	< 0.0038 mg/L	no standard	OK
Dicamba	< 0.0019 mg/L	no standard	OK
Dichlorprop	< 0.0038 mg/L	no standard	OK
Dinoseb	< 0.00086 mg/L	< 0.007 mg/L	OK
MCPA	< 0.380 mg/L	no standard	OK
MCPP	< 0.380 mg/L	no standard	OK
Pentachlorophenol	< 0.00048 mg/L	< 0.001 mg/L	OK
Silvex	< 0.00095 mg/L	< 0.050 mg/L	OK
2,4,5-T	< 0.00095 mg/L	no standard	OK

The following are my general comments:

1. Based on the available data, I do not see any specific problems or concerns.

2. It would have been advisable to test for more of the regulated and unregulated volatile organics and MTBE.  They only tested for BTEX (Bold).

3. It would have been good if the arsenic was tested to a lower detection limit.

4. The letter R- means it was a recommended standard – not regulated.

5. Ethylene glycol – the method did not have a detection limit that is below the lowest standard for a state in the United States.  There is no Federal Drinking Water Standard. The same comment applies to Cobalt.

6. Thallium – the detection limit was not below the limit for the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Recommend retesting.

Thanks for supporting the Citizens Groundwater Database - Submit your data today - get a free evaluation and help your community.

I would like to personally thank Sylcosan Inc. Manchester Wayne County PA and a proud member of the NWPOA for releasing data to the Citizens Database.

Thanks for Helping to Track Change in Pennsylvania

Mr. Brian Oram, PG
Water-Research Center – Free Information on Water Quality

http://www.water-research.net

Questions – 570-335-1947

Please Participate in Our Private Well Survey at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NMG6RQ3

If you would like a free booklet on Private Well Water Quality, go to:

http://www.bfenvironmental.com/pdfs/Waterbooklet070610.pdf

Looking to Support this Effort - We could use the help !