Example Connecticut Private Well Testing Letter

Dear XXXX XXXX,

We are contacting you with important information about testing the drinking water at your family or group child care home to ensure that it is safe from harmful chemicals. If your child care’s drinking water comes from your own private well, please continue reading to learn more about well testing.

If your child care is served by public drinking water, this letter does not apply to you because the safety of your water is regulated by the Department of Public Health’s Drinking Water Section. How do you know if you have public water? If you (or the property owner or landlord) pay a water utility bill, you have public water. You also have public water if your child care has a well that is used daily by 25 or more people.

If your child care’s drinking water comes from a private well, you should be aware of the water tests that are recommended to ensure that your water is safe from all the harmful chemicals that could be present. The enclosed Publication #24 provides a list of recommended tests for all private wells.

As you probably know, state regulations for child care facilities require basic testing of well water. Most likely, you would have tested your well water at the time you first applied for a child care license. Your water test was probably limited to taste and odor issues (such as iron, turbidity, pH, manganese, sodium, chloride), and sanitary issues (such as bacteria and nitrates/nitrites). If you are a group child care home, you are also required to test your water for lead every two years.

You should know that the basic water testing required by the child care licensing regulations does NOT cover all the harmful contaminants that could be present in your well water. Additionally, it is important to understand that water quality can change over time. The water test results from the sampling you did when you were first licensed may be different today.

Please read the enclosed publication about well testing. Table 1 in Publication # 24 lists water tests that are recommended for everyone with a private well. If you have never done the recommended tests, we strongly urge you to contact a state certified laboratory and arrange for testing. A list of state certified laboratories is enclosed.

Young children are especially sensitive to harmful health effects from contaminants in drinking water. This is because their bodies are rapidly growing and developing and because they drink more water relative to their body weight than adults.

The well water tests listed in Publication #24 are not required by regulation. However, they are very important, particularly if your water is consumed by young children at your child care facility. Testing is the only way to be sure your water is safe from all harmful chemicals.

We strongly encourage you to call our staff at the Department of Public Health who can answer your questions about well water testing, testing results, or water treatment. Please contact the Private Well Program at 860-509-7296 or visit their website at www.ct.gov/dph/privatewells to find more information about private wells.

Sincerely,

XXXXX XXXXX, Supervising Environmental Analyst
Connecticut Department of Public Health
Private Well Program