Test water wells yearly
Wittnebert, 79, lives in rural
Harvey blew away her water well building, tank and water softener system.
About three weeks after the hurricane, when she had electricity again, she had a water well operator set up a temporary water well system until she could get the building rebuilt.
"He set the tank on the slab and set it up and ran the wires and everything on the ground ... until we could get everything hooked back up," she said. "When you live in the country like this, if you don't have water, you just can't live here."
Many water wells were flooded or damaged because of Harvey, which could have led to contamination.
Residents with private water wells should get the wells tested if they haven't since Harvey and should continue to do so yearly, agriculture officials said.
Until her building was restored with a new water well, water softener and chlorinating systems, Wittnebert cooked with and drank bottled water. She only used the temporary system for bathing and washing. About a month ago, she had her water well tested, and her results were good.
"It's very important to be sure we don't have bacteria or anything swimming in our water we don't want there," Wittnebert said. "Water is a very important thing. We drink a lot of water in this household."
The
"Our big concern is that when it flooded in the Hurricane Harvey area, did that floodwater go over the top of the private waterway and actually get into the well itself causing a contamination?" he said.
Wells that were damaged and not flooded also had the possibility of being contaminated, he said. The concrete around the well may have cracked, letting in unwanted water.
Officials find E. coli in about 10 percent of the wells they test in the
E. coli can cause gastrointestinal sickness, which in extreme cases can cause serious health problems, Smith said.
Private water well owners should get their wells tested by a National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program-certified lab such as the
He stayed busy for about a month after the hurricane and still responds to some storm-related problems.
If a tank blew over, Traux reinstalled the plumbing and put in new pipes. If the wires had problems, he replaced them, he said.
"If it's the actual pipe that broke off and the pump went down inside the well, I'd have to go fishing with a cable and pull it back up out of there and then put new pipe and wiring and rebuild the whole system," he said.
For Traux, a water well service call costs
Weeks and months after the hurricane, the company received a lot of requests to fix broken windmills that generated water wells to fill stock ponds and troughs for livestock. The problems weren't noticed immediately because of all the rain, Seekamp said.
Most Harvey-related work was completed in two to three months after the storm, but the company is still receiving calls about damaged windmills.
The company also received many calls about flooded water wells and questions about what to do. Officials advised owners to test and sanitize their wells before using their wells' water, Seekamp said.
"The
The Safe Drinking Water Act was established in 1974 and requires public water systems to test their water several times a year. There are no regulations regarding private water well owners, so they have to take on the responsibility themselves, Smith said.
"Once a year, (they) should get their well tested for bacteria," he said. "The health lab there in
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