Local well users encouraged to test their water
By Ashleigh Plemper
Farmer Staff Writer
How safe is the drinking water that you are getting from a well is a question that every rural McKenzie County resident should be asking themselves. And if they don’t know, Karolin Jappe, McKenzie County Emergency manager, says they should consider getting their water tested.
“Several years ago, a farmer got in touch with me and said his cattle weren’t drinking out of the well,” says Jappe. “I took a water sample and took it to Astro-Chem Lab where it was tested. The numbers were outrageous.”
Interestingly enough, Jappe says a salt water disposal tank had been located in the same vicinity of where the farmer’s cattle were now turning away the water 37 years prior.
“It’s (the salt water disposal tank) not there today but that could’ve played a part,” says Jappe. “You never know how long something is leaking and getting out into the aquifer.”
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