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For Immediate Release: 3/21/08

Gov. Blunt, Health Department Waive Fee for Private Well Testing to Assist Flood Victims

JEFFERSON CITY – Gov. Matt Blunt today announced the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is waiving the fee for private water supply testing due to the floods.

“The flooding has devastated many Missouri communities and the safety of the water supply in some areas is a very real concern,” Gov. Blunt said. “Our emergency responders and state agencies are doing everything in their power to protect and assist Missourians who need help. By waiving these fees, Missourians will not have to pay to test the safety of their water supply and they will know with certainty if their water is safe to use.”

According to the health department, a private water supply is defined as a water supply with 14 or fewer service connections or that serves no more than 24 people for at least 60 days per year (EPA/DNR definition). Any other water supply is considered a public water supply.

“If the well casing is or was submerged in floodwater, Missourians are reminded NOT TO USE THE WATER,” said Daryel Brock, chief of the Bureau of Environmental Regulation and Licensure. Brock said if a well has been flooded it should be disinfected with chlorine. After the chlorine has been flushed from the well, citizens should send a sample of the disinfected water for testing to be sure that the water supply is safe. If there was floodwater standing around the well casing, but the well was not submerged in floodwater, Missourians should have their water supply tested.

Information on well disinfection from the Department of Health and Senior Services is located at www.dhss.mo.gov/BT_Response/Nat_Disaster/index.htm.

Wells can be disinfected with chlorine. A convenient form to use is sold commercially in grocery or other stores as liquid chlorine laundry bleach. Most of these products contain 5.25 percent solution or more of sodium hypochlorite when fresh, and is equivalent to 5 percent available chlorine.

Free testing kits will be available through the Missouri State Public Health Laboratory starting Monday, March 24, 2008. Missourians must call 573-751-3334 for a kit.

Missourians can also check with their local health departments for availability of testing kits.If testing kits are available, there may be a local charge.

NOTE OF CAUTION: Fragrance-free chlorine, whether used as sodium hypochlorite or calcium hypochlorite is a strong oxidizer and should only be used strictly following label directions. Avoid skin or eye contact and after chlorination flush the system completely, preferably through an outside tap into a non-grassy area before consuming, bathing, using for laundry, or use in an aquatic environment (fish tanks).

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