Access to safe drinking water is a fundamental need that supports community health. With this need in mind, the La Plata County Public Health Department completed construction on its new water lab this summer. The new laboratory allows the Public Health Department and specifically the Environmental Health program to improve its ongoing work testing public water and private well water systems for harmful bacteria. La Plata County is proud to provide this essential testing service to our community and beyond – water testing is available to all La Plata County residents and our neighbors in the Four Corners.
The LPCPHD Water Quality Lab offers testing for Total Coliform and E. coli. These are harmful types of bacteria that can contaminate our drinking water and cause diarrhea, nausea, cramps, infections and headaches. These bacteria may especially be harmful to children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.
If you are interested in testing your well water, you can find details and instructions below and more information is also on our website at lpcgov.org/waterlab.
If your well water has a strong, foul-smelling odor or discoloration, we recommend getting it tested. If a test from our lab comes back present for either or both bacteria, it is essential the well is disinfected. Well disinfection instructions are available on the LPCPH Water Lab website and are included in an email with positive results. If the well system has a cistern, it is recommended that a professional cistern installer assess your system before proceeding with well disinfection methods. Numerous causes might explain drinking water issues – contact a professional well or water treatment expert to correctly diagnose and correct the issue.
We also recommend performing a standard bacteriology test annually around the same time each year. It’s the responsibility of private well owners to test and treat their own drinking water. Our affordable Presence/Absence test is recommended for drinking water and costs $27.50. Results are usually provided within 24 hours. While a more expensive quantitative test is available that provides a specific measurement if present, any presence of these bacteria is considered unsafe, and the exact quantity is unimportant.
Samples submitted to our lab must be in one of our sterile sample bottles or it will be refused. Bottles can be received and submitted at the Public Health main offices at 281 Suttle St., 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday or through a self-service and pay system in our lobby. Samples must be submitted and processed by the lab within 30 hours of collection, so it is highly recommended to collect and submit a sample the same day. Results are provided within 24 hours. Instructions for collecting a high-quality sample are available at our front desk.
If you do not have a well on your property, then you probably receive your drinking water from a public water system. The EPA Safe Drinking Water Act includes the Total Coliform Rule to ensure that cities, metropolitan districts and many neighborhood associations distribute drinking water that is determined to be safe for human consumption by regular testing in a certified microbiology laboratory. Drinking water from public water systems is also regulated by the state of Colorado’s Water Quality Control Division and tested regularly to maintain safety.
If coliform bacteria are detected in a routine test, a robust reporting, retesting and investigation process starts immediately to correct the issue before illness occurs. The results of public water system tests are public information. You can access them on the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment’s website.
Mandated and regular testing for these bacteria in our public water system is being done through the lab. No news is good news! If you have not received notice, your water is certified safe for use. If you are on a public system and encounter an issue with your water, contact your water supplier or community management immediately.
The LPCPH Water Lab also provides testing to monitor wastewater utilities and ensure that our valued recreational waters and streams remain safe. Our services include biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, total dissolved solids, total coliform and E. coli and fecal coliform bacteria. These services are used to assist wastewater operators with wastewater treatment and monitoring in accordance with the EPA Clean Water Act.
Please contact La Plata County’s Water Quality Lab with any questions about our services at 828-8804 or waterlab@lpcgov.org.
Kim Myers is the La Plata County Public Health Department’s Water Quality Lab supervisor and has a Ph.D. in aqueous geochemistry and microbiology.
