Free well water testing for flood impacted Centre County households

BELLEFONTE — The state Department of Environmental Protection is offering free water testing for anybody whose private well or spring was affected by the recent flooding.

Centre County government, in cooperation with DEP, has established the planning office in the Willowbank Building in Bellefonte as a location for affected residents to pick up and drop off water test kits.

These kits will be available for the next several days and can be picked up between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. The kits with your water sample can then be returned to the planning office, where they will be forwarded to the lab for analysis. All results are confidential as they will be mailed directly to the homeowner.

Any Centre County homeowner with a private well or spring is advised to boil their water and have it tested if their water source exhibited any of the following characteristics:

• Any change in color, taste or if there was any noticeable odor;

• If the flow from a spring or if the level of the water in a well increased; and/or

• If the well or spring was submerged by or received surface runoff for any length of time, no matter how brief.

Even if these conditions were momentary or no longer exist, contamination could have occurred and may still be present in drinking water. If you are in doubt, test, officials said.

For more information call the Centre County Planning and Community Development Office at (814) 355-6791.