Our well is contaminated with fecal coliform bacteria. Who can give me advice on what to do?
If your well is contaminated with fecal coliform bacteria, the first thing to know is do not drink the water without disinfecting it first. The easiest and most effective way to disinfect the water is to bring it to a full boil for a least one minute. Health File #49b, How to Disinfect Drinking Water, provides additional information on disinfecting drinking water. It is important to contact an Environmental Health Officer (EHO) at your local health authority (see blue pages of your telephone book) as soon as possible, to get advice on how to prevent illness by disinfecting the water and how to remedy the contamination problem. The EHO will probably provide advice on chlorinating the well and determining the source of the bacteria. It may be necessary to have the well inspected to determine if there are any problems with the well — such as cracks in the casing, or openings between the well and the ground surrounding the well, which may be causing the problem.
