This week the Wake County Water Quality Division is sending out 19,000 letters to property owners on the east side of the county who use well water, warning them their wells may have unhealthy levels of radon, radium or uranium.
The division has held three information meetings in different locations in the affected area, which runs from west of Wake Forest, Raleigh and Garner. This only affects households using well water; if you pay a water bill you are either on Raleigh’s municipal system or are a customer of a private water company.
The possible contamination is not limited to just Wake County. It may extend into a large part of Franklin County and portions of Nash, Vance, Warren and Johnston counties.
The source is the underlying granite, the Rolesville batholith, a 200-million-year-old formation. Uranium is found in granite and can remain in the earth a long time. When it breaks down it creates radon and radium which can also end up in the well water or air.
Water with too much uranium can cause kidney toxicity, and in the long term high levels or radium or uranium can increase the risk of certain cancers. There is also a risk of cancers from drinking or bathing in water with too much radon.
County health officials are advising all well owners in the affected area and those close by to have their wells tested. Wake County is offering the water testing at much reduced rates to households with limited income. Go to www.wakeagove.com/wells or call 919-893-Well (9355).
Most homeowners will have to go to one of three well water testing companies:
* Florida Radiochemistry Services, 1-407-382-7733
*National Testing Laboratories, 1-800-458-3330, watercheck.com/collections/well-water-tests/
*Pace Analytical, 919-834-4984, pacelabs.com/about-us/locations/Raleigh-nc.html
“Only certified laboratory testing can determine if your well water has unsafe levels of contamination,” the mailer sent to well owners said. “This is true even if your well water looks, smells and tastes normal.”
The test will probably cost more than $150. If there is radon, uranium or radium, which is likely in about one in five of the 20,000 or so wells in the affected area, it can cost anywhere from $1,500 to $15,000 to install a system that treats the water and removes the chemical.
Only wells that were in place before February of this year are affected. The county now requires radiological testing for new wells in the eastern part of the county where about 200 new wells could be permitted each year.
