I’m not sure if you have been following my other posts, but here’s another case where local health officials may have hid their heads in the sand when it comes to looking out for well owners.

The incident in the article I found is a case of he-said, she-said. I don’t know who to believe, but if I was a well owner and wanted to protect myself and my family following a flood, I’d be getting my well water tested ASAP! I wouldn’t be waiting around to see if my local health department was going to do it for me.

You can read the original article here.

I’m not saying that all local officials responsible for the quality of the drinking water in their area bury their head in the sand, but I’m not going to put something so important to me off onto someone else. I’d be looking for a professional testing lab I can trust to test enough parameters and who know the right parameters to test for so I know if I need to take steps to overcome any problems they may find.

The most serious problem requiring immediate action would be if a pathogenic bacteria like e-coli was found to be above the recommended level published by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). You don’t want to be messing with bacteria. The way to overcome this issue is to sanitize your well. You can get access to a free video about the reasons for doing this and the right way to sanitize your well through chlorination by going to this page. 

But….

…you also need to be aware of the results for other contaminants like metals and  volatile organic compounds. These contaminants can affect you and your family over time, since many are known carcinogens that can cause brain damage and cancer. Most of these can be handled by installing simple filters. Some may require other treatments. We are often asked by our customers to recommend the appropriate treatment following their water treatment.

So, bottom-line…

…if you use  a well for your drinking water and your property has been the victim of a flood, take action quickly and have your water tested by a professional lab. That’s what we do–test drinking water in our own professional lab. We are one of the oldest and largest mail-order water testing companies in in the U.S. We use only US EPA testing methods and our lab technicians have been working together for over 15 years. Our lab director has been in the water testing business over 25 years.

You can learn more about our most popular and most appropriate water testing service for well owners here.

 

A county in Georgia issues a warning to well owners following a flood. Read about it here.  

Well owners whose property gets flooded should sanitize their well as a preventative measure. If they want, they can first have their water tested for the presence of pathogenic bacteria, but it’s highly advisable to chlorinate the well in any event

Why?

The well cover itself may have been breached allowing contaminants to enter their well. If they have a septic system on their property it’s possible that pathogenic bacteria has risen to the surface and entered the well housing. Once inside the well, these bacteria will find a host to grow on.

If you are going to have your water tested. at a minimum, test for the presence of pathogenic bacteria. It’s also a good idea to have a lab perform a more comprehensive test even if you have had one recently done because the flood waters may have introduced contaminants that were not previously reported.

Learn more about sanitizing a well from a noted water testing lab director by viewing this free video.

 

Warning: Hurricane Sandy’s Aftermath Poses

Health Danger for Well Owners

 

Homeowners who use their own well for their drinking water and who live in areas affected by flooding due to Hurricane Sandy need to sanitize their wells NOW.

County officials in many of the affected areas of New Jersey and New York, are stating:

“WARNING! DO NOT WASH WITH or DRINK WELL WATER

• People drinking or washing with water from a private well that has been flooded will risk getting sick.

• Flood Conditions at the Well – Swiftly moving floodwater can carry large debris that could loosen well hardware, dislodge well construction materials or distort casing.

• Coarse sediment in the floodwaters could erode pump components. If the well is not tightly capped, sediment and floodwater could enter the well and contaminate it.

• Wells that are more than 10 years old or less than 50 feet deep are likely to be contaminated, even if there is no apparent damage. Floods may cause some wells to collapse.”

The first step these homeowners need to take, after making sure their electrical service to the well pump is safe, is to sanitize their well. After the sanitizing process has been completed, they then need to test their well water for bacteria to make sure the water is safe for drinking and washing once again.

The homeowner can sanitize their well themselves. They don’t need to hire a plumber or well contractor to do this. First of all, it can be very expensive and secondly, most of these ‘professionals’ don’t know how to do it correctly.

Tom Mullen, the co-founder of Drinking Water Specialists, and the company’s lab director with nearly 30 years experience testing over 40,000 wells, has long preached that homeowners need to take control of the quality of their drinking water on at least an annual basis. But, in the aftermath of the horrific damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, Mr. Mullen says, “Well owners need to take quick and effective action now to make sure their well water is safe for drinking and washing.”

Mr. Mullen and his team have developed a simple all-in-one well sanitizing kit called, the Well Water Wellness Kit, that enables virtually any homeowner to sanitize their well themselves.

The Well Water Wellness Kit contains everything the well owner needs for doing this, including detailed written and video instructions, the treatment media, and self-test tools to test for bacteria and chlorine. All the homeowner needs to supply is a bucket, a stirring rod, and a hose.

The Well Water Wellness Kit is available for immediate shipping and can be ordered from the website: http://50.87.144.41/~beekster/well-water-wellness-kit/ .

Drinking Water Specialists has a free on-line video called, “Chlorinating Your Well, The ‘Why’ and ‘How’ Behind Chlorination”. It’s available at www.drinkingwaterspecialists.com. Any well owner should watch this video so they can have better understanding about the importance of maintaining their well in normal times and in times like this.

Mr. Mullen is available for interviews.  He is very passionate about encouraging all homeowners to “Take Control – Manage the Quality of Your Drinking Water” and wants to help educate everyone about how to do this easily and in a cost effective way.

 

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