Think it can’t happen to you? Think your well water, the very same well water that your father’s mother’s great-great grandpappy used to use for his award winning moonshine can’t become contaminated with bacteria?

So did the folks in Montrose, British Columbia, a region whose tap water had previously won four silver medals in the Berkley Springs International Water Tasting competition, until recent test results showed their untreated municipal water had as much as 6 ppm coliform bacteria per 100 milliliters of water.

As you will soon read, the amount does not merit widespread panic, but it does give cause for consideration of installing a disinfecting system.

Montrose pulled its bid for gold in a water tasting competition, after two months of testing revealed village water to be contaminated.

On Monday, council officially rescinded a motion to participate in the Berkley Springs International Water Tasting competition, a contest that has in past awarded the village four silver medals for its drinking water.

But two weeks ago, Interior Health released test results that found coliform bacteria in the water supply, prompting council to reconsider its entry in the 2011 competition.

“We’re planning now to disinfect our wells and disinfect the distribution system and the reservoir storage,” said administrator Kevin Chartres.

At its highest, the tests found six parts coliform bacteria per 100-millilitre water sample, not a grievous amount but enough to issue a boil-water advisory. ( source )

So… if an award-winning water supply can fall victim to incidental contamination by bacteria, what makes you so certain your water cannot suffer the same fate?

From our perspective, we applaud Montrose Health Officials for doing their due diligence and performing routine testing on their water supply in spite of the awards it has won.

If more people took an active interest in testing the quality of their water we believe companies and organizations responsible for polluting fresh water drinking water supplies would come under a lot more fire from government agencies and either stop their illegal activities or find new, safer ways to dispose of and/or store their chemical byproducts.

Just our two cents, ya’ know?