Arsenic levels found higher in NW Jasper County

Jasper County residents living in the northwest corner with well water may have a higher risk for arsenic.

Tests have shown a higher probability in that region of the county. The Jasper County Health Department is offering free water testing for private water wells in the Clear Creek Township vicinity due to this risk.

“The township in the northwest is Clear Creek. So everyone in that township, about three or four miles west of Baxter and north of Mingo, they are at a higher risk to have high concentration,” environmental health director Kevin Luetters said.

While not off the charts, according to studies conducted by the Iowa Geological and Water Survey, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources have shown possible arsenic contamination of private water wells, with the northwest corner at a higher risk. Letters were sent to about 270 residents notifying them of the risk and the ability to test the water, although residents are under no obligation to have the water tested.

Luetters said glaciers are the main reason the area is at higher risk with the last glacier to come out of Canada and into Minnesota and Iowa stopping about where Highway 330 is.

“The reason we have some of the best crop land in the world is because of that glacier,” Luetters said. “It pushed all of that top soil and dropped it right on Jasper County. It also brought us radon and arsenic, too.”

According to the material distributed by JCHD, arsenic is a naturally occurring element that can be found at some level in groundwater in many locations in the state. It usually occurs in conjunction with certain sulfide minerals that are deposited as part of the soil and bedrock formations. The environment that created the arsenic deposits is a result of million of years of accumulation, sedimentation ad erosion.

If a private well user discovers arsenic is present in their water supply and the levels pose a health risk, there are water treatment option available to reduce or eliminate the risk. Treatment systems designed to reduce or remove arsenic include reverse osmosis water treatment systems, water distillers or one or more water filter bed that contain activated alumina.

Also, because in many cases it is only necessary to treat the drinking water in a home, the treatment may be a simple as installing a “point of use” treatment system at the sink or water tap in the refrigerator.

Luetters said just because a well tests high for arsenic, the residents don’t necessarily have to do anything to treat it.

“How this kind of got started, if you sell your house and you are on a water well, you have to test the well and disclose the results,” Luetters said. “The disclosure of the results is what you have to do, it’s not something that you have to fix.”

For any questions about arsenic or if a resident would like to have their well water tested, contact Luetters at 641-787-9224 or kluetters@co.jasper.ia.us.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com