Can drinking water from a well cause disease or illness? Most well water is safe to drink, but water from an aquifer near a septic system might cause illness or disease. It depends on the quality of the...
It depends on the quality of the water. Most water nationwide is drinkable, but there is certainly plenty of water in the ground that will make you sick to varying degrees. It just depends on where the water is and what it's gone through.
If water soaks through aquifers, it can pick up anything that is within the ground that it flows into. If there is a salt deposit, it can become saltwater. If the area is radioactive, it can become radioactive, and so on. If it goes through soft stone like limestone, it will eat away at it liquefying the rock and creating what's called hard water.
You can get the same diseases you might get from surface water. I am not an expert on what kind of diseases are in water, but where we see the problem is where we recharge. It's a big problem if there is a septic system or that sort of thing, because the water takes that stuff down with it. If it has been underground without sunlight for a long time, the limestone or sand will actually kill everything off over time. My best word of advice is to always test your water before you use it, and it's not a bad idea to have it tested periodically.
