Beware of Bluffton area water testing scam

Area water officials are urging customers to avoid aGeorgia company that's selling water filtration systems door-to-door.

"There is a company in the area asking to enter homes to get water samples, and these are not (our) employees," said a posting on the Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority's Web site on Friday. "No BJWSA employee will ask to enter your home unless you were notified prior to the visit. ... Do not let anyone into your home unless they have proper identification."

Authority spokeswoman Jerrie Legare said a company called Environmental Marketing Solutions of Pooler, Ga., has been visiting homes in the Bluffton area. Salesmen are telling residents their drinking water contains "medical waste" or is "hard water" in an attempt to sell the filtration systems, she said. Hard water contains minerals that can clog or damage plumbing.

The salesmen collect a water sample from the faucet and return later with results they say show the water is contaminated, Legare said.

"They may also ask to test your body's absorption of chemicals by sticking your finger in the water," she said. "All of these claims are false."

The authority and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control conduct more than 80 tests a month to ensure water is safe to drink.

Some BJWSA samples are collected at customer homes, but Legare said an appointment is made before the visit. She said authority employees never enter a home because they collect the sample from an outside spigot under strict scientific controls. Then they send the sample to a certified laboratory for analysis, she said.

The authority's water, which is considered "soft," meets all state and federal quality standards, Legare said.

Environmental Marketing Solutions is registered with Georgia's Secretary of State and was created in October.

The company did not return three phone calls seeking comment Friday afternoon. Clerks who answered the phone there said the owners would return those calls. The clerks declined to provide the owners' names. The company's Web site does not list the owners.

The Web site says "there are many common water problems that can be identified by simply smelling, feeling, tasting or even looking at your water."

For problems not easily detected, the company said it could perform a comprehensive, in-home analysis free of charge. It also identified itself as an Aqua Maid dealer.

Aqua Maid Water Systems, of Lakeland, Fla., opened in 1996 and offers water treatment systems that remove chlorine, minerals and organic compounds normally found in drinking water, but not harmful to users.

Treatment systems can help reduce soap scum build-up in water pipes and soften the water.

Aqua Maid owner Alton Rochester said he's never heard of EMS and never authorized them as a dealer -- an agreement that comes with a $50,000 price tag.

Rochester also said he planned to call the Georgia company and ask it to remove the dealer information from its Web site.

By 7:15 p.m. Friday, EMS had removed that information as well as a link to the Aqua Maid site.

Rochester said all Aqua Maid salesman are required to undergo training. The salesmen can also only conduct simple tests for hardness, pH, iron and chlorine levels.

They are not allowed to use scare tactics about toxic chemicals or medical waste, he said. The tests they conduct at a customer's home are not comprehensive enough to determine if those contaminants exist, he said. The salesman would need a certified laboratory analysis to prove that, he said.

"And that's not necessary on city water because it's already biologically safe water," Rochester said.