Rachel Gallegos • Iowa City Press-Citizen • June 25, 2008
Residents whose drinking water comes from private wells should have their water tested if their wells were covered by or were close to flood water, according to a news release from the University of Iowa Hygienic Lab.The University Hygienic Lab distributed hundreds of water testing kits to all county health departments in areas affected by flooding. The kits include supplies and instructions for collecting and mailing water samples to the Oakdale Campus lab. Contact the county health department to obtain a kit.
Additional information about flooding-related health concerns is available on the University of Iowa Flood Information blog at http://uiflood.blogspot.com and on the University Hygienic Lab home page at www.uhl.uiowa.edu.
The Iowa Department of Public Health provides information about precautions for flood recovery and clean-up on its Web site, www.idph.state.ia.us.
The responsiblity of testing Well Water belongs to individual well owners and the USEPA does NOT regulate the frequency of private well testing or require it once the well gets certified for use. Water testing professionals, public health officials, and prominent national and international Water Organizations suggest that at the minimum, private wells should get checked yearly for bacteria. They also suggest testing more frequently in the even that the taste, odor or color of the well water changes.
It comes as no surprise, then, that water professionals at all levels warn that the flood waters in the Midwest may have brought on a whole new level of well water contamination and suggest that all well owners test to see if their well currently measures up to Drinking Water Standards.
While we do offer a great line home water test kits that provide fast, accurate test results, we highly recommend that well owners in the Midwest Flood Zones seek professional assistance in the form of certified laboratory testing.
RELATED NEWS: Some well water sampled after the floods this month in one southeastern Minnesota county don’t meet standards for safe drinking water.
RELATED NEWS: Private Well Water Testing Positive for Nitrates and Bacteria in Minnesota
