Frequently Asked Questions
About Water Testing About Volunteer Programs About Our Organization
Water Testing
“How do I know if my water is safe for drinking?”
Whether you are on a municipal water supply or have a private well, the most serious potential health risk in your drinking water is from bacteria. While many forms of bacteria are not pathogenic themselves, some forms of bacteria may be indicators that pathogens or other contaminants are present in your water supply.
If you are on a municipal water supply, it is probably not necessary for you to test your water. Your water supplier tests the water on a regular basis and would notify you if it was not safe for drinking. You should receive an Annual Report of Drinking Water Quality in the mail once a year, often with your water bill. Contact your water supplier or local health department to find out about your municipal water quality. One exception to this is testing for lead (see below).
If you have a private well, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) recommends testing your water annually for Total coliform/E. coli bacteria. The NYSDOH uses the Total coliform/E. coli test as the “basic potability test”, in other words, to determine if water is safe for drinking. The Total coliform/E. coli test gives results in terms of “present” or “absent” per 100 ml of water sample. The allowed level is “absent”, or zero bacteria colonies per 100 ml of water sample. In addition to the Basic Potability test, if you live in an agricultural area, it is recommended to test your water annually for nitrate, which is associated with fertilizers in agricultural runoff.
Regardless of whether you are on a municipal supply or a private well, if the plumbing in your home or that connects your home to a municipal water system is older than 1986, you should test for lead. Lead pipes and solder were banned in New York in 1986. If you are unsure of the age of your pipes and solder and your home is older than 1986, you should test for lead.
Beyond these three tests, choosing what to test your water for depends on many factors. Knowing the current and historical land use in your area is very helpful to determining what water tests you need. In general, if there are not any industrial activities (current or past) then you probably don’t need to be concerned about toxic chemicals in your well. Naturally occurring metals like iron, manganese, and arsenic may be elevated due to local geology. Contact your county health department to ask about local contaminants of concern.
“How can I get my water tested?”
- Decide what you are testing your water for.
- If you are testing for total coliform and E.coli bacteria, you can pick up a sampling kit from the CSI Lab, at Greenstar (West End Store -in the back by the filtered water sink) or Trumansburg ShurSave Customer Service Desk.
- If you are testing for anything other than bacteria, you must come to the CSI Lab to pick up sampling containers. Call the lab if you have questions about containers.
- Follow instructions very carefully to collect the sample. Failure to follow instructions may invalidate your test results!
- Fill out bottle label and paperwork.
- Drop off the sample at the CSI Lab the same day you collect it. Drop off times are Monday-Thursday, 11 AM – 3 PM. If you are unable to drop off a sample during this time, call the lab to make special arrangements.
- Keep samples cold, either in the refrigerator or on ice but do not freeze.
- If you are testing for bacteria, you will receive a phone call the next day if bacteria is present in your water. You will receive a certified test report in the mail within 10 business days. Most tests have the option of rushing reports for additional fees.
“What kinds of toxic chemicals might be in my water?”
Most private well owners don’t need to be concerned about toxic chemicals in their well water. The best way to evaluate the risk of toxic chemicals being present in a private well is by considering the current and historical land use activities in the area around the well. Due to the vast number of toxic chemicals used in commerce, it is helpful to gather as much of this information as possible to pinpoint which tests will be appropriate. Testing for chemicals like Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), pesticides or PCBs is advanced and can range from $100-$600 for a single set of tests. If there are not any current or past industrial activities on the land, the risk is probably low. However, if there are or were industrial activities such as large-scale farming, oil & gas extraction, mining, chemical or petroleum storage, dry cleaning, landfills, or manufacturing, the risk is probably worth the expense of testing your water for contaminants related to that industrial activity.
“My water tested positive for coliform bacteria. What should I do?”
If your water test for coliform bacteria comes back positive, your water is considered unsafe to drink by New York State Health Department standards. Nearly all private wells will have the presence of coliform bacteria at some point during their life, particularly when newly constructed. Fortunately, coliform bacteria can often be eliminated by making sure your well is in good condition and/or shocking your well with chlorine bleach.
Shocking your well is something that most homeowners do themselves and can also be done by a professional water treatment or plumbing company. For instructions about how to shock your well visit : http://tompkinscountyny.gov/health/eh/water/shockdis or contact your local health department.
You must wait until all of the chlorine is out of your system before re-testing your water for coliform bacteria. This could take up to 2 weeks depending on water usage and flow rate. The presence of chlorine will invalidate your test and cannot be refunded.
This photo of two petri dishes under a blacklight shows the presence and absence of coliform and E. coli bacteria. The sample on the left contains TNTC (too numerous to count) coliform colonies and you can tell because it is 
glowing under the black light. The dark specks are E. coli bacteria that can also be seen under normal light conditions. The sample on the right does not contain any coliform bacteria colonies. You can tell because it does not glow under the blacklight.
“What can I do to take care of my well?”
Private wells are the responsibility of the homeowner. Just like your car or furnace, wells need to be taken care of. Simple steps like keeping fuels and hazardous materials away from your well, maintaining your septic system, checking your well cap and casing for cracks or holes, avoiding the application of lawn and garden fertilizer near your well, and testing annually for coliform bacteria can go a long way toward keeping your well protected.
For more tips about taking care of your private well visit the EPA website: http://water.epa.gov/drink/info/well/whatyoucando.cfm[/accordion_item]
“How can my water get contaminated?”
Contamination of private wells can be naturally occurring or the result of human activity. The more you know about the potential sources of contamination near your well, the more you can to do protect your well.
The graphic to the left shows how common types of pollution can impact a private well.
More detailed information can be found on the EPA website: http://water.epa.gov/drink/info/well/health.cfm
“How often should I test my water?”
Annual testing for total coliform and E. coli bacteria is recommended by the New York State Health Department for private drinking water wells. If you live in an agricultural area, testing for nitrates is also recommended annually.
Testing is also recommended if: you notice changes in water taste, odor or clarity; there is a spill of chemicals or fuels in or near your well (even small amounts); your neighbors find contamination in their wells; when you replace or repair any part of your plumbing system; after major weather events such as floods or earthquakes; and if someone in the household is pregnant, nursing, or has unexplained illnesses.
“What kind of water treatment system should I install?”
The Community Science Institute does not design or recommend water treatment systems. We suggest contacting a water treatment specialist for this information.
“My water smells, tastes, or looks funny. What should I do?”
While the Community Science Institute does not design or recommend water treatment systems, undesirable smells, tastes or appearances can be an indicator that contaminants may be entering the well. Annual testing for total coliform/E. coli bacteria will help you evaluate whether your well is susceptible to contamination or if the undesirable characteristics are naturally occurring.
For more guidance about undesirable water quality and what to test for, visit the EPA website: http://water.epa.gov/drink/info/well/faq.cfm#q1
“I’m concerned about hydrofracking contaminating my well. What should I do?”
The Community Science Institute recognizes that the new technology of high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing presents risks to both private drinking water wells and streams and lakes. In response to these new risks, CSI has been offering comprehensive baseline testing of private wells since 2009. Visit the Baseline Testing page for more details.
“What’s the difference between water in streams and lakes and the water in a well?”
The water cycle describes the movement of water above, on, and below the Earth’s landscape. Water exists as vapor in the air, as water, snow, and ice on the surface, and underneath the surface as groundwater. As part of the water cycle, groundwater contributes greatly to the water you see in streams, lakes and rivers. When it rains, some water runs directly into streams and some infiltrates into the ground. This eventually makes its way to the surface as stream water, but can take anywhere from days to hundreds of years depending on local geology.
It is estimated that only 2.5% of all of the water on earth is freshwater, and of this, about 69% is frozen in polar ice caps and glaciers, about 30% is groundwater and 1% is surface water.
To learn more about the water cycle, visit the USGS website: http://water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclesummary.html
“How does my well water quality compare to others in this region?”
Despite the fact that more than 6 million New Yorkers rely on private groundwater wells for their drinking water, very little public knowledge exists about water quality in these wells. One potential resource for this kind of information is your local USGS office.
The Community Science Institute has been performing baseline tests of private drinking water wells since 2009 for parameters related to contamination from hydrofracking. As part of CSI’s Regional Baseline Initiative, we have asked these homeowners for their permission to anonymously pool and publish these test results in our online database. Our groundwater database is fracking-related and does not contain data on coliform bacteria, nitrates, or lead (common drinking water tests) but it does contain results on over 70 chemicals in each of 300+ wells, such as calcium hardness, radioactivity, total dissolved solids, methane levels, 54 Volatile Organic Compounds including BTEX chemicals, and 16 other analytes.
You can compare your test results to the results in our online database to see how your water compares to other wells in South-Central New York.
About Volunteer Programs:
“What do CSI volunteers do?”
CSI has three types of volunteer monitoring programs: Synoptic Sampling, Red Flag Monitoring, and Biological Monitoring. Results from Synoptic Sampling and Red Flag Monitoring are posted in our online database.
Synoptic Sampling volunteer groups work in teams to collect samples at fixed locations in a given watershed, like Six Mile Creek, on a single day to provide a “snapshot” of water quality. Volunteers collect samples and bring them to the CSI lab for analysis.
Red Flag volunteers work in teams to monitor small streams and creeks for baseline parameters related to shale gas drilling. Volunteers collect samples, perform field tests, and submit results to CSI for review.
Biological Monitoring volunteers work in teams to collect samples of aquatic insects that live at the bottom of streams and identify them in order to learn more about ecosystem health.
Visit the Volunteer Partners page for more information.
“Can CSI volunteers test my water?”
CSI volunteers do not test private wells or ponds as part of any of our monitoring programs. Some stream monitoring sites are located, with permission, on private property and have been selected because of their position in the watershed in relation to land uses of interest and other monitoring locations. Red Flag volunteers purchase their own field kits and are able to use them freely, which could include well or pond testing, but not as part of a monitoring program.
At this point in time, CSI is not able to expand its stream monitoring programs to new locations without additional funding. If you are interested in sponsoring a new stream monitoring location in or near one of the watersheds where CSI volunteers are monitoring, contact us for details about sponsoring a site.
“How can I get involved as a volunteer?”
If you are interested in volunteering with one of CSI’s monitoring programs, contact us and let us know where you live and which volunteer program you are interested in.
Visit our Volunteer Partners page to find out more about our various volunteer programs.
“How much does it cost to be a volunteer?”
There is no fee for being a CSI volunteer. We do our best to eliminate barriers for those interested in volunteering, including financial ones. Our volunteers contribute to CSI by donating their time, traveling to stream sites and the CSI lab, and for Red Flag volunteers – buying test kits and supplies when they can afford it. Many of our volunteers are also supporting members of CSI.
“How do you choose what locations to collect water samples from?”
Monitoring locations are chosen based on a variety of factors. When developing water monitoring programs, one must begin by asking what the purpose of the monitoring is, for example, to document a known problem, to investigate a possible problem, to document pristine conditions, or simply to learn about water quality. Looking at the land uses in a watershed will give you an idea of what types of parameters to monitor for. For example, if you are investigating agricultural runoff, you might test for bacteria and nitrates (fertilizer). If you were concerned about road salt, you could test for chloride. If there is a particular location with suspected pollution, you would choose at least one upstream and downstream monitoring location in an attempt to isolate any pollution.
CSI’s monitoring locations are chosen based on the following factors: safe and legal access, position in the watershed, position relative to land uses of interest (agriculture, urban development, industrial activity), upstream drainage area, and proximity to other water quality monitoring.
“Does CSI work with youth groups, students, or interns?”
CSI partners with the 4-H club to create 4-H20 programming that is free and open to all kids under the age of 18 who are interested in science and/or water quality. For more information, please click here.
CSI has worked with several area schools and colleges on specific projects including the BMI in the Classroom module at Southern Cayuga High School and Newfield High School, and Red Flag Monitoring training with New Roots Charter School, Ithaca College and Broome Community College. Contact us to find out more about opportunities for CSI come to your classroom.
CSI works with interns on a case-by-case basis. Available internships are posted on the News page. If there are not any current postings and you feel you have skills or project ideas that could help further our mission, please send your resume and a letter of interest to info@communityscience.org.
About CSI:
“What is your mission?”
The mission of the Community Science Institute (CSI) is to foster and support environmental monitoring by volunteers in order to educate the public about natural resources, specifically water, and to collect scientifically credible data for use in protecting the environment and the sustainable management of such resources.
“What is community science?”
Community science projects focus on local issues and local government. They prioritize observational monitoring and the use of data for science-based management of local resources over hypothesis testing and publication in scientific journals. Community science adheres to the scientific method, and projects may contribute to new scientific knowledge. However, creating new knowledge is secondary to gathering data within a known scientific framework and using results to manage local resources sustainably.
Community science directly involves local residents but differs from citizen science in some respects. Citizen science is growing in popularity among researchers as a way to enlarge the scope of scientific inquiry by engaging volunteers to help collect data. Citizen science projects tend to be regional, national or international in scope. They may involve observational monitoring, the testing of scientific hypotheses, or a combination of the two. Audiences for citizen science projects are generally other research scientists and government agencies at the state, national and international level.
“Why is collecting water quality data important?”
Collecting water quality data is important for a number of reasons and water quality data is used in many different industries. Water quality data is important for public and environmental health, for urban and regional planning, as well as in agriculture, food and beverage production, and most types of industrial manufacturing.
CSI’s volunteer monitoring partnerships collect water quality data that can be used to inform local policy and natural resource management. The data that is collected can also be used to evaluate ecosystem health. There are several specific examples of how CSI data is used. The best example of this is the monitoring downstream of the sewage treatment plant in Trumansburg that releases effluent to Trumansburg Creek. After repeated sampling upstream and downstream of the plant, CSI data showed that the plant was regularly exceeding its permitted levels of fecal coliform bacteria, and upon bringing data to the attention of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the village is working to upgrade the plant’s ability to properly treat sewage. Another example of how CSI data is used at the local level is for managing sediment in the Cayuga Lake Watershed. Since the Cayuga Inlet is used as a navigation channel, it needs to be periodically dredged to maintain access. By combining CSI data on suspended solids (sediment) in stream water with USGS flow data, one can estimate how often sediment will need to be removed and how often. Yet another example is the issue of hydrofracking. CSI collects baseline water quality data for things that would be expected to change if a well or stream was polluted by hydrofracking. New York has yet to see whether or not hydrofracking will take place in the state and if it does, citizens, agencies, and researchers will be able to use water quality data to evaluate whether or not contamination has occurred.
“Where does your funding come from?”
CSI has three main sources of funding: municipal support, lab fees, and donations.
Many local municipal governments have supported CSI’s volunteer monitoring partnerships as part of the Tompkins County-Wide Water Quality Monitoring Initiative funding model which distributes the costs of county-wide monitoring among municipalities based on their tax base and population and makes up about 40% of CSI’s annual budget.
Fees from our certified water quality testing lab help provide income to support our underfunded programs and maintain our lab and its certification in order to continue our stream monitoring programs.
Donations from individuals and businesses represent a growing portion of our annual budget. If you are interested in becoming members or sponsoring a monitoring site, visit our Donations page to learn how to offer support.
Our most recent Annual Report can be downloaded from the Resources page.
“What are the best and worst streams around Cayuga Lake?”
It depends on what you’re looking for. “Best” and “worst” are not the best terms when it comes to describing water quality in local streams.
Generally speaking, the water quality in and around the southern Cayuga Lake watershed is very good. Our online database contains over 80,000 water quality data items and can be explored online, or you can download data for your own use.
Coming soon – Watershed Fact Sheets and Database Tutorials!
“How do you choose what locations to collect water samples from?”
Monitoring locations are chosen based on a variety of factors. When developing water monitoring programs, one must begin by asking what the purpose of the monitoring is, for example, to document a known problem, to investigate a possible problem, to document pristine conditions, or simply to learn about water quality. Looking at the land uses in a watershed will give you an idea of what types of parameters to monitor for. For example, if you are investigating agricultural runoff, you might test for bacteria and nitrates (fertilizer). If you were concerned about road salt, you could test for chloride. If there is a particular location with suspected pollution, you would choose at least one upstream and downstream monitoring location in an attempt to isolate any pollution.
CSI’s monitoring locations are chosen based on the following factors: safe and legal access, position in the watershed, position relative to land uses of interest (agriculture, urban development, industrial activity), upstream drainage area, and proximity to other water quality monitoring.
