Clean water is on the minds of many health officials. There's even a week in March devoted to groundwater awareness. Bill Hatfield is the Boone County Health Department Director of Environmental Health. He says testing is important because there are residents who haven’t had their wells tested in more than twenty years.
“Protecting against pollution and so on, and it just kind of just goes along with that to test your well water because it’s underground and you never know what’s happening-- you don’t see it.”
Hatfield said they’ve seen an increase in the number of residents asking for testing kits. The health department tests for coliform bacteria which is naturally found in the soil. Elevated levels could be a sign of contamination, and further testing would be required.