Coliform Bacteria Test Kit

Late last week residents in a Massachusetts community outside of Boston received word that water samples from two of the town’s wells tested positive for the presence of bacteria (enterococci bacteria). Accordingly, health officials advised residents to not use their tap water without boiling it first.

Boiling the water before using it for cooking, drinking, washing, brushing one’s teeth, etc. would effectively kill off any bacteria potentially present.

as a general rule, health officials view the presence of enterococci bacteria as a sign that the water may have become contaminated with fecal matter and that, friends, could definitely make more than a few people sick.

For anyone with a compromised or otherwise suppressed immune system, ingesting water containing fecal matter could mean death.

No matter how you look at it, though, the very idea of drinking human or animal waste sounds… absolutely revolting.

The Town of Marshfield has ordered residents to boil their water before using it, after tests of water samples from two test wells found a high level of enterococci bacteria. Enterococci bacteria is an indicator of the possible presence of fecal matter, and when it is found in drinking water it poses a serious health risk.

The well sites on Spring Street and Church Street, two of six wells in the towns hi-zone water system, had high levels of the bacteria, according to results returned Thursday night.

Residents are being instructed to bring water to a rolling boil before drinking and cooking, or before brushing teeth, bathing, or washing their face. ( source )

Far too many people trust in modern technology these days and forget one of the most basic facts in the Known Universe: “Sh#t happens.”

Machines can break, valves can fail and unexpected leaks can occur. When any of those things happen, some of the bacteria from the sh#t that unavoidably happens has an opportunity to get into your water supply.

Who should test for bacteria in drinking water?

In most cases people with city water do not need to test for bacteria in their water, but an occasional test just to make certain nothing has gone wrong with the pipes between the water treatment facility and their homes never hurts.

For people who private wells, the odds of bacteria infiltrating their wells go way, way up. Therefore experts suggest a regimen of periodic testing for coliform bacteria to anyone who owns a private well.

Trained water experts perform daily testing of city water but no one will test your well water if you don’t.

As nasty as that sounds, for some folks that actually happens.

MORRISON, Wis. — All it took was an early thaw for the drinking water here to become unsafe.

There are 41,000 dairy cows in Brown County, which includes Morrison, and they produce more than 260 million gallons of manure each year, much of which is spread on nearby grain fields. Other farmers receive fees to cover their land with slaughterhouse waste and treated sewage.

In measured amounts, that waste acts as fertilizer. But if the amounts are excessive, bacteria and chemicals can flow into the ground and contaminate residents’ tap water.

In Morrison, more than 100 wells were polluted by agricultural runoff within a few months, according to local officials. As parasites and bacteria seeped into drinking water, residents suffered from chronic diarrhea, stomach illnesses and severe ear infections.

“Sometimes it smells like a barn coming out of the faucet,” said Lisa Barnard, who lives a few towns over, and just 15 miles from the city of Green Bay. ( source )

One would suppose that local and state health officials examined all of the evidence and looked at the situation from multiple angles before allowing, and in some cases encouraging, farmers to make use of the cows’ waste products they did, but Mother Nature can always find a way to get around the best made plans of men.

Most people know that natural disasters such as floods contaminate drinking water pulled from wells but many do not think about things like farm runoff… which can occur at pretty much any time of year and will typically contain nitrates, nitrites, coliform bacteria and a host of other ‘nasties’ that people ought not consume.

In 2006, an unusually early thaw in Brown County melted frozen fields, including some that were covered in manure. Within days, according to a county study, more than 100 wells were contaminated with coliform bacteria, E. coli, or nitrates — byproducts of manure or other fertilizers.

…

Some residents did not realize that their water was contaminated until their neighbors fell ill, which prompted them to test their own water. ( source )

As the old phrase goes, “Sh#t rolls downhill.” In cases like this, though, the sh#t runs downhill and into people’s wells.

Well Water Testing

Nothing takes the place of professional water testing performed by a certified water testing laboratory. Period. At-home and/or do-it-yourself water test kits serve as ideal screening methods for water contamination only.

With that said, please take a look at the following test kits designed for testing well water:

Water Quality Test Kit

Well Drillers Master Test Kit

Well Drillers Standard Test Kit

The WaterSafe brand of home water test kits also released a Well Water Test Kit recently.

For more information on the effects flooding can have on well water, please see an earlier Water Testing Blog entry called “Well and Ground Water Testing in Flood Zones“.