Floods Can Affect Your Well Water's Well-Being

Friday, March 1, 2019

biletelBereta Leocd ena Pee} icon (NAPS)—For over a million fami- lies, farmers and business owners, seeing floodwaters receding may just be the beginning of their troubles—butit doesn't haveto be. ‘The Problem ‘The National Ground Water Association (NGWA)—anot-for-profit profes- sional society and trade association— says people who have inground wells in areas affected by flooding need to watch for contaminated water. This is particularly likely to be a owners should continue to monitor and test their systems. “While frozen ground may not be saturated from storm water, warmer weather may allow floodwatersto infiltrate and contaminate subsurface water during a thaw,” hesaid. Similarly, hundreds of thousands of wells were potentially affected during the Atlantic hurricane season in places including North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Virginia and Alabama. What To Do Following flood,disinfection and sas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, wellhead repair may be common needs Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin and amongwell owners. Well relocation and anyplace with broad, sand and gravel elevation may also be useful and proprobleminIllinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kan- valleys and glaciated rolling country- side. These places could be standing in waterfor several days, risking contaminationif the wells aren't properly maintained. ExposuretoE. coli, coliform and other pathogenic microbes from human and animalfecal matter in floodwaters is a commonhealth concern following a majorflooding event. Floodwater can also carry other contaminants. “Even slight flooding arounda well can potentially carry contaminated waterto the wellhead,”explained Chuck. Job, NGWAregulatoryaffairs manager, “andif the wellheadis cracked orfaulty in any way, the well and water system could be compromised” Adds Bill Alley, NGWA science director, as temperatures rise, well tective. As always, NGWA recommends water well system professionals be used to assess andservice wells. NGWAhas flooding resource cen- ter on its website. Included is information on how to protect well systems before and aftera floodingevent. Learn More The association also has other resources that may help when dealing with flooded water wells. These include the best-suggested-practice “Residen- tial Water Well Disinfection Following a Flood Event: Procedures for Water Well System Professionals” and a Water Well Journalarticle titled “Responding to Flooded Wells.” ‘Youcan find these and more at www. WellOwner.org.

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