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Drinking Water Testing Advice - Cheating on Water Bacteria Tests - Advice for home buyers, home owners, home inspectors InspectAPedia®  -     Cheating on Water Tests Cheating on Septic Tests How to Catch Dishonest Water or Septic Testing How to Avoid Water Test & Septic Test Cheating Problems What to Do About Questionable Water Test Results

This article explains why people might do something that prevents you from obtaining an accurate water test, how to detect this bad behavior, and what to do about it. Cheating on drinking water tests may come as a surprise to most folks - who would do such a thing, and why? Also see Choices of Water Tests & Fees: A Summary of Types of Water Tests, Degrees of Comprehensive Water Testing, Details of Water Test Parameters. and Water Testing Advice based on information from Cornell University of Maryland with extensive edits, text additions, and additional references.

CHEATING ON WATER TESTS - Testing Water for Real Estate Transactions - Water Test Cheating Warnings for Home Buyers and Home Inspectors

The Shocking Case of the Disappearing Septic Dye

Why would someone cheat on a water potability or bacteria test?: perhaps it's the pressure of the deal - a real estate transaction is an unusual event with lots of pressure on the participants. Or perhaps some people just don't take the health of new building occupants seriously. There are ways to fudge a water test other than the obvious one of collecting the test for building "A" from a known good "source B" at another location. We have encountered a distressing number of cases in which we arrived at a property to collect a water test sample only to discover (by means we discuss below) that someone had attempted to cheat by temporarily sterilizing (with bleach) a contaminated water supply. After encountering this problem a number of times we began testing for cheating before testing for bacteria.

How can we detect dishonest water or septic tests?: These photos and case report illustrate how the septic system test process may actually catch someone's attempt to cheat on a water potability test by shocking the well with bleach right before the inspection. Shocking a well can obscure unsanitary drinking water and it might disguise a septic system that is not working.

At a property inspection we noted that the approach to the home was along a causeway through a swamp - the house sat on a rise of land surrounded by wetlands. With very little dry land around the home, it seemed to me unlikely that the property could possibly have a working well and a working conventional septic system (though special equipment could be installed there was none.) But we were informed that these systems were in good working order.

The two photos above show a similar case in which an old home-made septic tank was located just a few feet from a public lake. You can see our septic test water pouring into the septic tank in the upper right part of the right hand photo.]

Bleach in a Water Supply can Hide Septic Dye in the Septic Tank or at Ground Surfaces

The two photos below are of septic dye on a wet leafy ground surface were adjusted in my lab (we boosted the photo's color saturation) for purpose of illustration, to show how a green septic dye may fade to clear when exposed to bleach in the water supply.

We put in some septic dye: During conduct of my septic loading and dye test we introduced a florescent septic tracer dye into the waste system and turned on the building water supply to load the system. Luckily there was access to the septic tank (which we opined was way too close to the wetlands).

We saw the dye entering the septic tank, but ...: Peering into the septic tank we could see my septic tracer dyed water entering the tank. To my amazement, the dye was disappearing immediately on entering the tank rather than staining that water as well.

Do not lean over the septic tank: It's dangerous to lean over or into a septic tank (it can be fatal) so we didn't look further. We had heard of this exact phenomenon from my (now departed) friend Steve Vermilye who had encountered the same thing, which we dubbed the "shocking case of the disappearing septic dye". Fortunately for the home buyer (and too bad for the water test cheater) we knew what this disappearing septic dye meant.

Owner explains why septic dye disappears: we asked Mrs. owner if there were any problems with the well or septic. Happily she was far more forthcoming than the other parties to the selling end of the transaction. "Well," she said, "we were told by XX [name withheld so as to avoid being sued by a large powerful national group] that there would be no problem if we just poured some Clorox(TM) into our well early this morning before you got here. We were told to run the water until the smell was gone from our fixtures."

What could we make of this? "Shocking the well" with bleach might indeed temporarily hide a bacterial contamination of the water source - it would never "fix" a real problem if one were present. At this point we didn't know if the water source was contaminated or not. But the large amount of bleach put into the system earlier in the day was resting at such high concentration in the septic tank that it was literally bleaching out my dye as it entered!

When to re-test a well that has been shocked with chlorine, Clorox(TM) or other disinfectants: This question is explained at" When to re-test a well that has been shocked with chlorine bleach or some other disinfectant". Watch out! Testing too soon or testing water improperly after chlorine or other disinfectants have been in use is likely to give false results.

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CHEATING ON WATER TESTS
  Disappearing Septic Dye
  How much bleach to cheat
  Sources of chlorine in water
  How to avoid test dishonesty
  Re Testing Water

• Thanks to Craig Young, Environmental Health Officer, Government of Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada, for noting page format snafu 3 Jan 2008

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More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

• Drinking Water Contamination and Pollution How to Detect, Test, Correct, and Prevent Well Water Contamination - US EPA - Groundwater
• Interpreting & Acting On Drinking Water Test Results what the results mean and what to do about them
• Correcting Unsatisfactory Water what to do, when to do it, treatment alternatives, equipment, filters,
• Water Treatment for Contamination, Hardness, Odors, Sediment, Etc: choices of systems, recommendations
• When and How to Shock or Chlorinate a Well - Procedure for Shocking a Well to (temporarily or maybe longer) "Correct" Bacterial Contamination


• Drinking Water testing, contamination, correction - all topics
• Drinking Water Testing Advice for home buyers home owners home inspectors
• Choices of Water Tests & Fees: A Summary of Types of Water Tests, Degrees of Comprehensive Water Testing, Details of Water Test Parameters
• Cheating on water tests: Testing Water for Real Estate Transactions - make sure your water test is valid
• General water testing and corrective measure advice: contact your local health department.
• How to Interpret Drinking Water Test Results and How to Correct Unsatisfactory Water
• Drinking Water Contaminant Levels - Maximum Allowed
• Drinking Water Contamination and Pollution How to Detect, Test, Correct, and Prevent Well Water Contamination - US EPA - Groundwater
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• Extreme Lead Poisoning Symptoms Suggested by Feb 2006 NY Times Article on Kosovo Roma Camps
• When and How to Shock or Chlorinate a Well - Procedure for Shocking a Well to (temporarily or maybe longer) "Correct" Bacterial Contamination
• Water and Waste Water Test Methods, US EPA
• Water Requirements, Home & Outdoor Living
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• Water Supply & Drain Piping, Wells, Pumps, Water Supply Equipment
• The Septic System Information Website - Extensive, Detailed Consumer and Industry Information on Septic System Inspection, Testing, Maintenance, Alternatives for on-site waste disposal
• Sewage or Septic contamination in buildings - Investigation, Testing and Remediation

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