xp: Friendly Reminder about Testing Water

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If you have a private well, please make sure to test your water for bacteria and nitrates.

You are fine if you have municipal water since your local municipality should be doing continual checks to meet federal standards. 

A reputable water testing lab should be able to test private well owners water with a simple pass/fail for bacteria and making sure your nitrate level is under the Federal standard of 10 mg/L.

If your water is contaminated with bacteria, it is unsafe to drink/cook/clean with it. It can be a big health concern for both you and your baby.

If your water's nitrate level is above the federal mandated level, both you and your baby are at risk for methemoglobinemia "blue baby syndrome". Unlike other contaminates, boiling your water will not eliminate nitrates, it will actually increase your concentration.

I am passionate about this because most people don't think of their water as a possible contaminated source.

 It is best for a private well owner to test their well atleast once a year for these two items. If you live in a certain area high in other contaminates, you may want to test for more, but these are the two biggies!