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I’m bumping this thread because I’m on the verge of accepting a job offer where i’d relocate to Southern New Hampshire and i just found out about the drinking water problem. I looked on the Internet and saw that this is still an ongoing issue. Just want to see if there are any local residents on this board who can add any insider information about this situation? Is this really cause for concern? I’m now seriously reconsidering accepting this job offer. Contaminated drinking water is a huge deal to me and causes concern.
I’m bumping this thread because I’m on the verge of accepting a job offer where i’d relocate to Southern New Hampshire and i just found out about the drinking water problem. I looked on the Internet and saw that this is still an ongoing issue. Just want to see if there are any local residents on this board who can add any insider information about this situation? Is this really cause for concern? I’m now seriously reconsidering accepting this job offer. Contaminated drinking water is a huge deal to me and causes concern.
What part of southern NH are you considering? Of course the best situation would be a city or town that has a municipal water supply, which is tested regularly by an independent lab. Private wells have no requirements for testing (even in rentals) so finding a place with Public Water would be key.
When purchasing a home, most buyers include a water test as part of their Home Inspection - but this year, many buyers are waiving inspections completely (a scary thought for sure!) just to get their usually well over asking price offer accepted. I foresee a lot of Buyers Remorse in the next few years, but I digress...) Standard testing does not typically include lead, arsenic, radon, mtbe or PFOA/PFAS. Some homes that are known to have issues (particularly if there is a documented cause for the contamination) may supply drinking water via delivery or in extreme cases, may run a line to provide public water...
If still not satisfied, bottled water is cheap and available almost anywhere.
None of this seems like anything to lose sleep over to me.
Sorry but I have to disagree. The most important thing for any house isn't whether or not you have quartz countertops and hardwood floors - but if the air is safe to breath and the water is safe to drink.
While some contaminants are easy to resolve (shocking a well to remove bacteria, for noisy (radon remediation, for example) and in some cases - impossible to remove from water once present. I know plenty of people who get bottled water delivered - but they still have be careful not to injest water - and in some cases- the EPA and/or NH DES recommends not using contaminated well water on food crops. This can be a major inconvenience...
What part of southern NH are you considering? Of course the best situation would be a city or town that has a municipal water supply, which is tested regularly by an independent lab. Private wells have no requirements for testing (even in rentals) so finding a place with Public Water would be key.
When purchasing a home, most buyers include a water test as part of their Home Inspection - but this year, many buyers are waiving inspections completely (a scary thought for sure!) just to get their usually well over asking price offer accepted. I foresee a lot of Buyers Remorse in the next few years, but I digress...) Standard testing does not typically include lead, arsenic, radon, mtbe or PFOA/PFAS. Some homes that are known to have issues (particularly if there is a documented cause for the contamination) may supply drinking water via delivery or in extreme cases, may run a line to provide public water...
Thank you for the response. I don’t have a specific location picked out. But I’m considering Amherst, Merrimack, Londonderry. However I’m very flexible on location as long as it’s commutable to Lowell MA. How can I find out what towns have municipal water supplies? I Suppose another option would be to install a home filtration system of some kind?
I’ve read that the issue also extends to areas closer to the coast, like Dover, Rochester, and Hampton. So it looks like this is truly widespread. I suppose having drinking water delivered is an option, however I’d certainly love to live somewhere where I’m confident that the water coming out of the tap isn’t dangerous.
I also found this map, which is certainly helpful.
Town water doesn't necessarily reach every home in town
Quote:
Originally Posted by dakotajak
Thank you for the response. I don’t have a specific location picked out. But I’m considering Amherst, Merrimack, Londonderry. However I’m very flexible on location as long as it’s commutable to Lowell MA. How can I find out what towns have municipal water supplies? I Suppose another option would be to install a home filtration system of some kind?
Some towns have municipal water only for certain neighborhoods and most new developments, for example Amherst originally only hooked up a subset of homes, and has explored expanding municipal supply to additional homes which tested positive for PFOA.
Sorry but I have to disagree. The most important thing for any house isn't whether or not you have quartz countertops and hardwood floors - but if the air is safe to breath and the water is safe to drink.
While some contaminants are easy to resolve (shocking a well to remove bacteria, for noisy (radon remediation, for example) and in some cases - impossible to remove from water once present. I know plenty of people who get bottled water delivered - but they still have be careful not to injest water - and in some cases- the EPA and/or NH DES recommends not using contaminated well water on food crops. This can be a major inconvenience...
Oh I'm certainly not saying that safe drinking water isn't important.
What I'm saying is the information on water quality is readily available, ways to verify the information is readily available, and ways to mitigate water quality whether through treatment or bottled water is easy and convenient. Admittedly at a price unless you go to the town well, and that has a labor and time penalty. After I get a well put in, I'll definitely put some effort into occasional testing.
If it comes to a place where you can't ingest the water, I've spent years living places where I had to brush my teeth with bottled or treated water. It isn't a huge deal and it becomes normal very quickly.
If one landed in a place where the well wouldn't support food crops, yes that is an inconvenience, time consuming, and annoying. Still ways around it that aren't extremely cost prohibitive for small gardens.
Again, not discounting the concern or saying knowing the water quality water isn't important, just saying I'll put more effort into deciding whether to eat the left or the right banana of my two remaining bananas. This is an easy problem to knock down so one can better spend time solving more difficult problems.
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Town water doesn't necessarily reach every home in town
