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When a Test Of a Well Finds Faults By JAY ROMANO From the New York Times

The New Jersey law — known as the Private Well Testing Act — applies to all sales contracts entered into on Sept. 14 or after. It also requires landlords who rent out property served by a private well to have the well tested by March 14, 2004, and to advise the tenants of the results within 30 days. Landlords must also provide the test results to each new tenant and retest every five years. And while the law requires testing for a number of different contaminants and characteristics of the water, it does not contain any provisions that mandate treatment if contaminants or less-than-desirable water characteristics are found.

"The law is silent as to what happens if the results are bad and what you can do to make the situation good again," said Albert I. Telsey, a lawyer in Short Hills, N.J., who specializes in environmental issues. "So this is where the lawyers are left to use their experience and imagination."

Mr. Telsey said the first thing to be understood is that even though a well has "failed" a test — that is, the water does not measure up to the standards articulated in the law — this does not mean the water is unsafe to drink. For example, he said, while the "recommended optimum range" for the pH of drinking water (measuring the water's acidity or alkalinity) is between 6.5 to 8.5, pH levels above or below that range will not make the water unsafe to drink. And while higher-than-recommended levels of iron or manganese may cause staining on clothes and appliances, these metals are considered "secondary characteristics" of the water and generally do not present a health risk.

"I've heard estimates that 50 to 75 percent of the wells tested could fail for minor aesthetic issues," Mr. Telsey said, adding that even if a well has higher-than-acceptable levels of "primary contaminants" — substances like lead, arsenic, mercury or any number of industrial chemicals or fuel-related contaminants known as volatile organic compounds — it is usually possible to treat the water to remove those contaminants. "When a well fails a test, clients get spooked," Mr. Telsey said. "It's the lawyer's job to unspook them."

Generally, he said, a "failed" test will be resolved through negotiations between the parties. In some cases, he said, the buyer might be willing to accept the house as is. In others, the seller might offer a credit at closing to cover the cost of a treatment system. In yet others, Mr. Telsey said, the buyer might require the seller to install whatever treatment system is necessary to provide acceptable water at the taps.

(In cases where there are high levels of contaminants, Mr. Telsey said, other environmental regulations may require remediation rather than treatment — that is, eliminating the source of the contamination and removing contaminated soil. It is also possible, he said, that the buyer's lender may insist on either treatment or remediation.)

John McGowan, a certified water treatment specialist for Jason Water, a water treatment company in Union, N.J., said that the strategy for treating drinking water typically depends on what the water is being treated for. If a well test indicates there is coliform bacteria in the water, Mr. McGowan said, the first thing a homeowner should do is disinfect the well. He explained that in most cases, bacteria in well water generally originate in the well itself but can colonize either in the well or in the plumbing that carries the water throughout the house. As a result, he said, it is necessary to disinfect not only the well itself but all of the plumbing lines and fixtures. (In most cases, Mr. McGowan said, this can be done by "superchlorinating" the well by adding household bleach and then circulating the treated water through the house and through every fixture and appliance to kill bacteria.)

After the well has been disinfected, he said, the water should be retested 7 to 10 days later. If there are no bacteria present in the retest, Mr. McGowan said, there should be no further cause for concern. (To be safe, he said, the water in a well that has had bacteria in the past should be tested for bacteria at least once a year.) If bacteria are still present after the well has been disinfected, then it is probably necessary to install a treatment system. The most effective treatment system for bacteria, Mr. McGowan said, is a device that destroys the micro-organisms by exposing them to ultraviolet light.

"The most important thing to remember about ultraviolet systems is that you have to change the bulb about once a year," he said, adding that it is possible to purchase an ultraviolet system that has an internal monitor that alerts the homeowner when the bulb needs changing. An ultraviolet system with a monitor costs about $2,000 installed.

Roger D. Garrett, manager of Purely Water, a water treatment company in Sparta, N.J., said unacceptable levels of nitrates — chemical compounds that pose health risks for infants and pregnant women — can be removed using either a reverse osmosis filter or an anion exchange system.

With reverse osmosis, he said, water under pressure is passed through an extraordinarily fine semipermeable membrane. "The water molecules are small enough to weep through, and the larger molecules end up being collected and sent down the drain," he said. One advantage of a reverse osmosis system, Mr. Garrett said, is that it will filter out other contaminants such as lead, mercury and arsenic. A disadvantage is that the system uses as much as three gallons of untreated water to produce one gallon of treated water.

"A standard system is capable of making about 12 gallons a day," Mr. Garrett said, adding that for this reason, a reverse osmosis system is typically installed at the kitchen tap.

An anion exchange system, on the other hand, is typically installed at the water's point of entry into the house, thereby treating all of the water used in the house. This system, which uses anion resins to replace the harmful nitrates with harmless chlorides, also reduces the water's pH, making it doubly useful for wells that have a high pH level. A reverse osmosis filter, Mr. Garrett said, starts at $750, while an anion exchange system costs about $1,300.

Water that has higher-than-acceptable levels of volatile organic compounds — such as benzene or M.T.B.E., a gasoline additive — can usually be effectively treated using a carbon filtration system.

"But we're not talking about the standard, run-of-the-mill filter you install under your sink," Mr. Garrett said, explaining that whole-house carbon filtration systems generally consist of two separate but connected carbon-filled tanks about 10 inches in diameter and 54 inches high. "The first tank does all the work and the second is a backup," he said, adding that depending on the amount of contaminants in the water, the carbon has to be replaced every 12 to 18 months. Such a system costs from $1,200 to $1,800 installed.

Mr. McGowan of Jason Water said that if unacceptable levels of volatile organic compounds are found, it is critical for the seller to file a claim under the New Jersey Spill Fund. Doing so, he said, is the only way to make both the seller and the potential buyer eligible for state financed installation and monitoring of equipment that removes the compounds.

Water with unwanted secondary characteristics — such as water that is too "hard" and water with high levels of iron and manganese — can be treated using a water conditioner. Such devices use positively charged cation resin to change iron and manganese into tasteless, odorless and colorless sodium, which is then filtered out and periodically "backwashed" out of the filter and into the drain. Water conditioners, Mr. McGowan said, cost $600 and up, depending on the size and type of unit.

Information about water treatment systems is available on the Web site of the Water Quality Association at www.wqa.org. Information about the Private Well Testing Act is on the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Web site at www.state.nj.us/dep/pwta.