Residential well water safety check planned
Southern Seven Health Department says that when it comes to supplying a home or business with water, there’s more to it than just turning on a faucet.
That’s where Southern Seven Health Department’s environmental health services division comes in.
The division works to assure rural residents and business owners that these systems are designed and working according to code so that neither the public’s health nor the environment are jeopardized.
The health department is planning to host a well water safety check for local residents from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Aug. 19 at the Union County Farm Bureau office in Jonesboro.
Community members can stop by the Farm Bureau to purchase a test kit for $20 from the health department during those hours.
Inside the kit will be instructions on how to collect water into a container which will be provided.
The kit also will include a postage-paid mailing label so the sample can be sent to a laboratory.
Samples also can be returned to the Farm Bureau office by 11 a.m. on the day of the event. The samples will be sent by the health department.
Testing for E.coli and Coliform will be done by the Illinois Department of Public Health, IDPH, lab.
The health department also offered options for those who are not able to come to the Farm Bureau office on Aug. 19.
A kit can be picked up at the health department. Area residents also can arrange for a health department sanitarian to come to their home to collect a water sample.
Then, either the person providing the sample or the sanitarian can send the sample to IDPH. The on-site test is performed for a fee of $50.
For both options, a sanitarian will contact the person who provides the sample with results of testing.
If results are less than favorable, the health department can provide the person who provides the sample with information about how to disinfect a well.
More information about checking the safety of well water is available by contacting Southern Seven Health Department environmental health director BJ Newbury by phone at 618-634-2297, extension 110, or by email at bnewbury@s7hd.org.