Hudson Valley News story

With the pollutions & contaminations on the air & earth, the sources of Drinking water shall be tested constantly to ensure that the safety standard is enforced.

Residential wells to be tested in Rockland County

Residential drinking wells will now have to be tested in Rockland County.

At recent legislative committee meetings, concerns were raised regarding the quality of water in the 6,000 to 8,000 private wells throughout the county and public awareness of the need to regularly test private wells.

“The purpose of this law is to protect public health and safety,” said the measure’s sponsor, county legislator Ellen Jaffee. “Well water is an extremely important, affordable and often preferred source of drinking water that needs to be better protected. As elected officials, we have the responsibility and mandate to make good policy to protect the health of children and families in our county. Protecting public health includes protecting its drinking water.”

Contamination of well water resulting from industrial activities, commercial activities, and pesticide application and other forms of groundwater contamination raises concerns that unsuspecting, innocent purchasers of residential homes and residents of rental apartments may be endangered unless a well water test is completed prior to acquisition of homes, on a regular and ongoing basis for rental properties and before new wells are used, Jaffee said.

Under the new law, when a sale contract is signed for any property served by a private water system within Rockland, the seller will be required to begin the process of testing the well water and obtain written certification from a New York State approved laboratory that their private water system, based on analysis of untreated or raw water, conforms to county water standards. Property sellers would be required to obtain a certified laboratory test of a wide range of contaminants, not just bacteria, and results shared by both parties. The property seller will be required to arrange for and pay the cost of this testing. Read More....
Hudson Valley News story