Arsenic in the well !

[TOAD]

One big disappointment in Toad's household yesterday. All we needed was a title search and to close on the house in Moultonborough in around 2 weeks.

We exercised due diligence and went with the expensive thorough water test. Arsenic levels are half again what is considered acceptable and safe. Arsenic is a known carcinogen. With the wife's compromised immune system we can't take any chances so that house is out. Our three and a half year search for our retirement home continues. The house and location were everything we had been searching for.

The house is only ten years old and the seller built it for his mother to live in. We have the results of of the water tests he did at the time of the build in 2001. It was just a basic water quality/potability test, nothing more. His mother is currently being treated for cancer. No way to really know if there is a linkage with the water and her condition....but

I am very thankful that we did not try and do the inspections on the cheap.

Question? By NH law, do the seller and real estate agents have to disclose that the water has recently been tested and found to have elevated arsenic levels? I would think that the seller would be required to change the real estate disclosure form. I would certainly hope so anyway. Would hate to see someone try and save some money up front on the inspections and wind up paying the price, big time, at a later date.