Warren County is offering free well testing in Knowlton Township after residents reported a recurrence of salt -- sodium chloride -- contaminating their drinking water.
Warren County is offering free well testing in Knowlton Township after residents reported a recurrence of salt -- sodium chloride -- contaminating their drinking water.
Sampling performed in 2004 of 12 wells in the township's Columbia area found each had sodium and chloride levels above the recognized maximum contaminant level, according to the Warren County Health Department; samples tested as high as 530 milligrams per liter for sodium and 689 milligrams per liter for chloride, compared to maximum contaminant levels of 50 and 250 milligrams per liter, respectively.
Private well owners knew there was a problem because of the "obvious taste of salt in the water," the department says in a question-and-answer sheet on its website.
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Free well testing is being offered to 100 properties, and any additional homeowners are eligible for $50 sampling, discounted from $150. About 40 property owners have signed up for the testing, township Mayor Adele Starrs said. Announced Oct. 23 during a township meeting, the testing is scheduled to be conducted the week of Nov. 9 by Eurofins QC Lab.
Officials also hope that township residents outside Columbia sign up, so testing can be done on their well water to determine background levels of sodium and chloride, county Health Officer Pete Summers said.
Results are expected within about a month, Summers said. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection plans additional testing on 25 samples in an effort to determine the source of the contamination, he said.
"We're fairly confident that it shouldn't be a natural occurrence," Summers said. "If we were down by the shore, it might."
Columbia residents in May brought renewed concerns of salt contaminating their wells before the township committee, saying they feared salting of roads was to blame.
The health department has identified salting of roads and other surfaces during winter as a possible source of sodium chloride contamination of well water.
"I don't want to jump to conclusions before the testing is done," Starrs said, "but is that on our radar? Absolutely it's on our radar."
Summers noted that Columbia, except for its border along the Delaware River, is surrounded by roads: Routes 46 and 94, and Interstate 80.
"It's like it sits at the bottom of a bowl of roads," he said.
Resident Pam Russweiler in May pointed out to township officials four entities salt the area roads: the Delaware River Bridge Commission, New Jersey Department of Transportation, Warren County Road Department and Knowlton Township public works.
Salt in well water may pose health concerns for those on a low-sodium diet due to heart, kidney, circulatory ailments or complications in pregnancy, the health department says.
Knowlton Township wells being tested for salt contamination
Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
