Lambton Public Health reminds residents to regularly test water wells
For those who live in the city, clean water is something you may take for granted.
But families who get their water from a well have to check the quality of the water several times a year.
“We try to educate our private well owners each year about the importance of testing their wells. You know, their wells, they're responsible for them. So if they're not testing them on a regular basis, they have no idea if there's any issues going on with them,” explained Lori Lucas, health protection supervisor for Lambton Public Health.
The month of April typically sees heavy rainfall and sometimes flooding, and those high water levels can be a problem if the structural integrity of the well has been compromised.
“So if the well pipe itself maybe isn't sealed properly, like if there is some cracks along the top, that sort of thing with the potential for that water runoff...it could be agricultural runoff,” said Lucas.
Health units across Ontario offer free water testing services for well owners, but a passage in the Auditor General’s report from 2023 suggests cutting the free service gradually in the coming years.
"I would disagree with the Auditor General, and I assume they probably live in an urban area that doesn't require water testing. If they were in the country, they'd have a different outlook,” said Crispin Colvin, a director with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture for Lambton and Middlesex counties.
The cost of testing would then fall on the property owner, and according to Colvin could add up if multiple tests are required when a problem is found.
"It's not just the cost of $150 roughly, or whatever it may be at a private lab. But if people stop testing because they don't want to spend that extra $150, then families will get sick," he explained.
In 2023, more than 300 tests were done in Lambton County with 67 of them coming back adverse, multiple tests by the same owner are included in the results.
For the time being the process is quite simple, and according to Lucas kits are available at local health units.
“There's different sites that you can pick up your bottle locally and again with other public health units, take the sample, gives you instructions attached to the bottle itself on what to do,” she said.
Testing multiple times is necessary until a clean sample is repeated to avoid bacteria like E-coli from getting into the system.
Bacteria testing and water sampling kits are available for free. Pick-up and drop-off locations include:
- Lambton Public Health, 160 Exmouth St., Point Edward — Monday to Thursday: 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., Friday: 8:30 a.m. until 10 a.m. — phone: 519-383-8331 or 1-800-667-1839
- Charlotte Eleanor Englehart Hospital, 450 Blanche St., Petrolia — Monday to Wednesday: 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. — phone: 519-882-4325
Rural residents may be closer to:
- London Public Health Lab, 1200 Commissioners Rd. E.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
2 died in plane crash near Squamish, B.C., police confirm
Two people died after a plane went down in a remote area near Squamish, B.C. on Friday, authorities have confirmed.
After more than 100 years, Newfoundland's unknown soldier returns home
An unknown Newfoundland soldier, who fought and died on the battlefields in northeastern France during the First World War, is back home this weekend for the first time in more than a hundred years.
Blaine Higgs 'furious' over sexual education presentation
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has shared his anger on social media over a presentation in at least four high schools.
Grayson Murray's parents say the two-time PGA Tour winner died of suicide
Grayson Murray's parents said Sunday their 30-year-old son took his own life, just one day after he withdrew from a PGA Tour event.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Driver, 18, gets $3,000 ticket, 32 demerit points after speeding on Laval boulevard
A young driver received a hefty fine from Laval police after they say he was driving nearly 100 km/h over the posted speed limit.
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
Indianapolis 500 starts after 4-hour rain delay with Kyle Larson in the field
The Indianapolis 500 started Sunday after a rain delay of four hours with NASCAR star Kyle Larson still at the track and in the race.
Some birds may use 'mental time travel,' study finds
Real quick — what did you have for lunch yesterday? Were you with anyone? Where were you? Can you picture the scene? The ability to remember things that happened to you in the past, especially to go back and recall little incidental details, is a hallmark of what psychologists call episodic memory — and new research indicates that it’s an ability humans may share with birds called Eurasian jays.