Experts are reminding private well owners in areas affected by Hurricane Harvey to get their well water tested.
“You should not use water from a flooded well for drinking, cooking, making ice, brushing your teeth or even bathing until you are satisfied it is not contaminated,” Dr. Diane Boellstorff, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service water resource specialist, told AgriLife Today.
Free water well testing is available for those residents impacted. Residents who want to have their well water tested should pick up a free water sampling test kit at the temporary AgriLife Extension office in Victoria County.
Instructions will be included with the kits, and well owners must be available to pick up the sample kit, take the sample and return it to the office on Sept. 21 from 8-11 a.m.
Floodwater may contain substances from upstream, such as manure, sewage from flooded septic systems or wastewater treatment plants or other contaminants, according to Boellstorff.
A septic system near a well also can cause contamination when the soil is flooded.
AgriLife Extension, Virginia Tech and the Rural Community Assistance Program are offering free well water testing as a means to improve understanding of a flood’s impact on private well waters and to enhance communications on well water quality.
Test kits will be distributed in several locations, but any homeowner with a private water well in the flood-affected area is eligible. There are a limited number of kits, which will be distributed on a first-come, first-served bases. The samples will be analyzed for coliform bacteria by Virginia Tech.
Water quality results will be confidential and be emailed or mailed to residents’ homes.
Instructions for decontaminating a well are available through the following publications free for download through the Texas Water Resources Institute: Decontaminating Flooded Water Wells and Shock Chlorination of Wells.
Wells should be inspected for physical damage and signs of leakage after a flood, according to Drew Gholson, AgriLife Extension program specialist and network coordinator.
“If it appears damaged, consult a licensed water well contractor to determine whether repairs are needed,” Gholson told AgriLife Today.
Gholson said flooding can also damage the well pump and electrical systems.