"People have inherently believed that coming from the ground, it should be safe for human consumption," said Brian Buckley, a Rutgers water quality expert. "That's not necessarily so. If I had a well, I'd have it tested."

The new law requires tests only when homes with wells are sold. But the results have some in the state Legislature considering a mandate that all well-owners test their water as often as once a year - a checkup that could cost homeowners an average $500. A bill will be introduced today, said Jim Manion, a spokesman for the Senate Democrats.

The Private Well Testing Act took effect in mid-September. It requires tests for bacteria, nitrates, lead, arsenic, manganese, acidity, and a long list of industrial chemicals called volatile organic compounds.

The law leaves it to buyers and sellers, however, to decide who pays for the test and whether to do anything about problems found in the water.

Statewide, 1,082 wells have been tested so far. Of those, 72 percent failed for at least one of the contaminants on the state's list.
Most of the problems were for so-called secondary violations - metals such as manganese and iron that can stain clothing and laundry but have no serious health effects, or for high pH, a measure of acidity in the water that is generally harmless but could, in some cases, leach metals from pipes into the drinking water.

But 301 wells, 28 percent of the total, contained more serious contaminants. Failures for coliform bacteria, which can cause nausea, vomiting, and other gastrointestinal problems, were most common, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Health hazard unclear
Nitrates, which can cause breathing problems or even brain damage in babies, and lead, which can stunt the mental development of children, were also found, the state said.

So were volatile organics, a group of petrochemicals and other compounds thought to increase the risk of cancer, nerve, and kidney damage and a long list of other illnesses. Benzene, trichloroethylene, and MTBE, a gasoline additive intended to decrease air pollution from cars, were found in several wells around New Jersey. In most cases, the levels were too low to cause harm, the state said.

Whether the overall numbers reflect a greater danger for those drinking from the 400,000 private wells in New Jersey is hard to say, according to experts. The DEP said it needs more well tests to determine if there's a larger health hazard. The tests also check raw water, and many homes may have treatment systems in place that cleanse water before it gets to the tap, the state added.

"I think it reaffirms our advice to residents with private wells that they should have their systems checked annually," said Fred Mumford, a DEP spokesman.

"The fact that you have 28 percent of wells tested exceeding a primary standard shows that folks need to be diligent."

Mumford said the failure rate is "slightly higher than we anticipated. However this is new territory."

The lead likely comes from solder or pipes in the plumbing. The bacteria and nitrates most likely come from leaking septic and sewage systems, experts said, as well as from fertilizers on lawns or nearby farms.

In Bergen County, DEP reported, six of 25 wells tested positive for iron, lead, or manganese. In Passaic County, six of 14 failed for iron, lead, manganese, nitrates, pH, or bacteria. Fifty-three of Morris County's 77 tests failed, mostly for iron, lead, pH, and bacteria. No tests were done in Hudson County.

The results match those found by The Record in a survey of private laboratories around New Jersey, which have been performing the tests for home buyers and sellers, typically for about $500.

Rich towns included
At Aqua Pro-Tech Laboratories in Fairfield, just over half of the 300 wells tested this fall have shown contamination - many for lead, bacteria, and nitrates, said Robert Barrett, Aqua Pro-Tech's chief operating officer. The failures have come in some of the ritziest towns in North Jersey.

"Saddle River, Franklin Lakes, Upper Saddle River - three of the wealthiest communities in New Jersey and these people have bad water," Barrett said.

"As time goes on and more people are required to test, I think you're going to see more failures," he said. "A lot of people have never tested."

Similarly, about two-thirds of the wells tested by Garden State Laboratories of Hillside have failed, said Harvey Klein, the company's director. About a quarter had more serious pollutants such as lead or bacteria.

Statewide, most of the failures were in the central or southern counties where water is naturally more acidic or high in iron and other metals, according to the DEP. In Cumberland County, every tested well failed, mainly for pH levels.

In most cases, wells can be saved. A bottle of chlorine bleach or chlorine tablets can wipe out most bacteria.

If that fails, an ultraviolet treatment system will do the trick. Water softeners or reverse osmosis systems will strip out metals. Carbon filtration can remove volatile organics. Most of the equipment costs $2,500 or less, Klein said.

In the most contaminated cases, however, homeowners may have to hook into public water systems, an expense that could cost thousands of dollars.

Worried by the high failure rate, Democrats in Trenton have been debating whether to make all well-owners get periodic tests, not just those trying to sell their homes. Manion, the party spokesman, said legislators are still studying the feasibility and the economic impacts of requiring the tests.

Need for tests debated
But the DEP, environmental groups, and other observers said an annual test would best ensure the safety of well users. Others, however, thought that is too much, especially considering the price of the checkups.

"If you're living in a rural area and ExxonMobil install a gas station next to you, you probably want to check your water," said Peter Bischof, the president of WATER Works Laboratory in East Orange. "If you live in a farming area and nothing's changing, why would you need to do more testing?"

Environmentalists said the test results bolstered their claims that overdevelopment in rural areas was fouling wells and other water supplies.

Many of the bacteria and nitrate failures were logged in rural and coastal areas of New Jersey where subdivisions have gobbled up virgin land in recent years, noted Jeff Tittel, executive director of the state Sierra Club.

Many of those new homes use septic systems, Tittel said. But few communities, he argued, have done a comprehensive study of their impact on local wells.

"It shows we're overdeveloping on septics," Tittel said. "I think this should send a very clear signal to the Legislature that we need to do more to protect groundwater in New Jersey, to clean up contaminated sites and stop overbuilding."

The state Builders Association has said in the past that it supports measures to protect water supplies.

But Patrick O'Keefe, the group's executive director, said it was too soon to draw any conclusions from the well tests. "One thousand results, and we don't know where they were and what exactly the findings were, is hardly the basis for any kind of statement," he said.

Whatever the implications, the well tests haven't done much to slow North Jersey's red-hot housing market, local real estate agents said. Even a few thousand dollars for a treatment system isn't much when $500,000 homes can be considered inexpensive, agents said.

Still, Laurie Schragen, manager of Coldwell Banker's Ramsey and Upper Saddle River office, had at least two deals fall apart.
"Once there's a problem, it's hard to convince a person that the well is going to be fixed," she said.