Understanding your well water report: total coliform & E. coli.

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  University of Washington. Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center
• Description:
  What is total coliform and E. coli? Total coliform bacteria are bacteria found in the environment and feces (poop) from humans and animals. Most types of coliform bacteria will not make you sick. But if you have total coliform bacteria in your well, you might have bacteria like E. coli. E. coli is a type of coliform bacteria. Some types of E. coli can make you sick. What can I do if my water has total coliform or E. coli? 1) Re-test your well: It's easy to accidentally get bacteria in a test bottle. Re-test using instructions from the WA State Dept. of Health. 2) Check your well for damage: Check the cap and casing for damage. You can also hire a professional to inspect and repair your well. 3) Remove sources of bacteria: Bacteria can come from many places. This could be septic tanks that aren't working well, pools of water near the well, and animal waste (poop). 4) Disinfect your well: You can hire a well professional to disinfect your well. You can also do it yourself. You will add bleach to the well and run the bleach water through your water pipes. Contact the Yakima Health District for detailed instructions. 5) Re-test your well: After the smell of chlorine is gone, wait 2 to 3 days. Then test your well to make sure the bacteria is gone. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Public Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Water supply; Drinking water; Ground water; Information dissemination; Public health; Bacteria
• Publisher:
  University of Washington
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Lay Publication
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20065442
• Citation:
  Seattle, WA: University of Washington, 2019 Nov; :1-2
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2020
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20010930
• Source Full Name:
  Understanding your well water report: total coliform & E. coli
• End Date:
  20270929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:144e2ca7264e612085fbf709318764096e6580132876caaf132922aa97959b150bf974b0886ea93a2661fc995b78c9f924cda0105f5cf88923ddb266aff2f3ed
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/248702/cdc_248702_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 448.16 KB ]