Arsenic in Drinking Water

 Living in rural areas seems like a dream for so many people. No traffic, cleaner air, the songs of birds all around…what’s the old TV show…Green Acres…is the place to go. That said, danger lurks for those who are living out there “away from it all” and the danger comes in the form of drinking water because of arsenic which can be fatal in drinking water.

 A groundbreaking new study out of Boise State University offers new insight into how it got there. In its natural state, the Treasure Valley is an arid, high desert climate. In order to get greener pastures, we've spent more than a century irrigating. It turned this area into an oasis for agricultural prosperity, but over time  these fields of plenty were also creating caustic consequences underground.  Arsenic was leaching into well water.

After a three-year study, BSU geochemist Shawn Benner made a significant discovery -- for the first time ever, linking the contaminated aquifer with irrigation water. “In urban centers, people get their water from municipalities and they drill deeper wells. Those deeper wells are safer. It’s a rural problem because rural communities often have individual wells on their property and those wells typically are shallower because they’re less expensive and the shallower water has high arsenic in it.”

 Dr. Benner says the first step is to get your well tested and if they find arsenic: “There are filters that remove arsenic that go below your sink.”