In North Carolina, one in four households relies on a private well as their primary source of drinking water. The state has the highest number of private wells in the nation, yet a lack of regulation poses serious public health concerns. Further compounding the problem, most private well owners are not getting their wells tested, leaving them vulnerable to the health impacts of consuming contaminated water.
Many harmful contaminants can’t be seen, smelled or tasted and drinking contaminated water has been associated with cancer, cardiovascular disease, pre-eclampsia, neurological disorders, elevated blood lead levels and higher instances of waterborne illness. Additionally, affluent communities are four times more likely to have their water treated than low-income communities, further exacerbating health disparities.
A new white paper published in the UNC Dataverse by researchers at the UNC Institute for the Environment (IE), in partnership with the UNC Superfund Research Program (SRP) in the Gillings School of Global Public Health and the Well Water Pro Bono Project at the UNC School of Law, offers three policy recommendations to protect community members who rely on private wells for drinking water and addresses policy gaps contributing to health inequalities across the state.
“More Tarheels get their drinking water from private wells than in any other state, yet these wells are almost entirely unregulated,” said Kathleen Gray, associate professor and director of UNC IE’s Center for Public Engagement with Science and leader of the UNC SRP Community Engagement Core. “We believe these recommendations can better protect North Carolina communities served by private wells.”
The white paper identifies cost as one of the most common barriers to testing. Well owners can get their wells tested by their local health department or use a private lab, though the price and testing methods vary widely across the state. The average cost of routine testing is $150 per year, ranging from $60 to $440 depending on the area.
In their first recommendation, the authors call for reducing barriers to private well testing by providing free testing to low-income and pregnant individuals, who are particularly vulnerable to the health impacts of contamination.
After testing, if contamination is discovered, low-income individuals may also have difficulty treating their drinking water.
The team’s second recommendation would increase funding to and expand the Bernard Allen Memorial Emergency Drinking Water Fund, a support fund established by the North Carolina General Assembly to assist low-income well users with addressing contamination caused by human activity.
This recommendation would expand the scope of the fund to also address private well contamination from naturally occurring sources that exceed a health-based standard. The fund can provide options to the well users, such as other drinking water sources, a water treatment system, drilling a deeper well or connecting the dwelling to a public utility.
“When testing reveals contamination in drinking water, many low-income households do not have the resources to treat their water and take other health protective actions,” said Andrew George, community engagement coordinator with UNC SRP and UNC IE. “The ability to address naturally occurring contaminants and additional funding would allow the state’s fund to better reach more low-income families and distressed well users in North Carolina.”
A recent addition to residential property disclosure statements in North Carolina requires sellers to disclose whether a home on a private well has been tested for quality, quantity and pressure. If it has been tested, the seller must provide the date testing occurred.
The team’s third recommendation would require private well testing before the transfer of real estate, rental or leased properties. The well testing results would be required to be reported in the disclosure statement prior to purchase. Landlords also would be required to conduct routine testing and provide results to tenants.
“Younger families are most likely to purchase new homes, and requirements for private well testing prior to signing real estate transfers or leases can provide these families an additional layer of protection for their drinking water,” explained Maria Savasta-Kennedy, professor and supervisor of the Well Water Pro Bono Project at the UNC School of Law.
The team also prepared policy profiles for each recommendation to illustrate through case studies how these policy changes may make a difference in the state.
The full white paper and case studies can be found on the UNC Dataverse.
