Texas Well User Stewardship Practices Three Years After Hurricane Harvey

Details

• Personal Author:
  Boellstorff DE ; Gentry TJ ; Gholson DM ; Gitter AC ; Mena KD ; Mendez KS ; Pieper KJ
• Description:
  Private wells are susceptible to contamination from flooding and are exempt from the federal requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Consequently, well users must manage (e.g., disinfect) and maintain (e.g., regularly test) their own wells to ensure safe drinking water. However, well user practices and perceptions of well water quality in the years following a natural disaster are poorly characterized. An online follow-up survey was administered in October 2020 to private well users who had previously experienced Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The survey was successfully sent to 436 participants, and 69 surveys were returned (15.8% return rate). The survey results indicate that well users who had previously experienced wellhead submersion or a positive bacteria test were more likely to implement well stewardship practices (testing and disinfection) and to report the feeling that their well water was safe. While the majority of well users believed that their water was safe (77.6%), there was a significant decrease in well water being used for drinking, cooking, and for their pets after Hurricane Harvey. Generally, these well users tend to maintain their wells at higher rates than those reported in other communities, but there continues to be a critical need to provide outreach regarding well maintenance practices, especially before natural disaster events occur. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Cyclonic Storms Environmental Pollution Epidemiology Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Private Wells Drinking Water Environmental Contamination Flooding Hurricanes Natural Disasters Water Purification Water Supply Well Stewardship Well User
• ISSN:
  2073-4441
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; Mississippi ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 6 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  15
• Issue:
  22
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20068934
• Citation:
  Water 2023 Nov; 15(22):3943
• Contact Point Address:
  Anna C. Gitter, Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, Houston, TX 77030, USA
• Email:
  anna.gitter@uth.tmc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• Performing Organization:
  University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Water
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:df965cf0a2a47fafae6eb7a5108bd4c5b60f7f8546f007b9d0333981797e94447743e566f7f7554454fc691a785d2465bc1a56179ca57bced7ccd3376962cc63
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/207497/cdc_207497_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 619.62 KB ]