A week after flooding, safety of well water is still a concern

Staff photo by Gregory Rec

Thelma Maling, a longtime resident of Wells, says she's been boiling and filtering her water since last week's flooding. Noting that the well water at her Elmere Road home "tastes funny," Maling says she plans to pick up a testing kit. The recent flooding may be the biggest threat to water supplies in Maine in 10 years, an official says.

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GETTING CLEAN WATER

CLEAN WATER should be used for drinking, cooking, washing dishes, bathing, brushing teeth and washing hands. Unless water has been certifed safe by a local authority, it should be treated with suspicion.

IF CHEMICAL contamination of water is suspected, do not try to disinfect it. Discard it.

TO KILL MOST bacteria and parasites, bring water to a rolling boil for at least one minute.

IF YOU CAN'T BOIL water, treat it with chlorine or iodine tablets (these will not kill many parasites).

STORE WATER in a container that has been washed with soap and water and disinfected with chlorine bleach.

INFANTS WHO are not breast-fed should be given pre-mixed formula. If that is not available, then formula should be mixed with water that has been boiled. Only as a last resort should infants be fed formula made with water disinfected with chlorine or iodine tablets.

TO LEARN MORE go to www.bt.cdc.gov or www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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WELLS — Underneath the houses on a dead-end road off Route 1, water is everywhere. The soil remains so wet a week after the region's worst flooding in a decade that pumping out basements has proven futile. The water just keeps coming back. Yet for some residents who rely on private well water, there's not a drop to drink. Homeowners have resorted to boiling their water and buying bottled water while they wait to learn if their own supply is safe.

State officials suspect that some York County wells were contaminated during last week's flooding, and they're encouraging people whose water has an unusual taste or odor to get it tested. Flood victims whose entire wells were under water are also being asked to do testing.

"We want to make sure that people don't get sick," said Andy Tolman of the state's drinking water program.

Hundreds of test kits have been distributed since last weekend, and more will be available today at four locations: the Corner Fire Station on Route 1 in Wells, the Central Fire Station on Route 109 in Sanford, the York Police Department at 36 Main St., and the York County Emergency Management Agency, 5 Swett's Bridge Road, Alfred.

The water samples should be collected after 6 tonight and returned by 9 a.m. Thursday. They will then be taken to a lab for analysis. The testing must be performed a short time after the water is drawn, or whatever unwanted bacteria were in the water may not be detected.

Test results won't be available for at least two days. In the meantime, concerned residents are being asked to take certain precautions.

Dr. Dora Anne Mills, Maine's public health director, said folks who fear their wells are contaminated should seek an alternative source of water for drinking, food preparation and dishwashing. Alternatively, they can boil their well water for five minutes, she said.

The recent flooding may be the biggest threat to water supplies in Maine in 10 years, Mills said. A storm and subsequent flooding in October 1996 left thousands of people in southern Maine without water.

The rainstorm that hung over York County earlier this month caused an estimated $7.4 million in damage to roads, bridges and other public property. More than 1,000 homes were damaged, and Gov. John Baldacci has asked President Bush to send federal assistance.

Thelma Maling, who has lived in Wells for decades, is among the residents of Elmere Road who are worried about their drinking water. Since the flooding, she's been boiling water and running it through a filter.

Across the street, water was still being pumped out of Sharon Brassard's basement, more than a week after the effort to drain it began. Last week, the floodwaters lifted the top off the dug well in her basement. Her family has been relying on bottled water.

Brassard was among the people who took a water sample when the test kits were made available Sunday.

"I'm anxious to get the results," she said. "I'd like to have some good news somewhere."

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