With spring’s arrival, Grey Bruce Public Health is encouraging anyone with a private well to test their drinking water by taking advantage of Public Health Ontario’s complimentary testing service.

Residents can pick up a well water sample collection kit and drop off samples at any of the 14 pick-up/drop-off locations throughout Grey-Bruce. Submitted samples are tested by Public Health Ontario (PHO) for bacterial indicators of contamination, specifically E. coli and total coliforms, which can make people sick and can even be fatal.

“Spring is a perfect time for households in Grey-Bruce that draw drinking water from wells or other private systems to have a sample of their water tested,” says GBPH Senior Public Health Manager Andrew Barton.

“Public Health advises residents to test their well water at least three times a year, with the best times to test being when the chances of contamination are greatest, such as in early spring, after heavy rains, or during thaw or flooding conditions.”

A map of designated pick-up/drop-off locations for the well water testing program, along with a courier schedule, is available on GBPH’s Private Drinking Water webpage.

Samples dropped off at the Owen Sound and Walkerton sites are transported each weekday to a PHO laboratory for testing.

Couriers contracted by Public Health also pick up samples at locations along a Bruce County route on Wednesdays and a Grey County route on Fridays. A PHO courier then takes the samples to a PHO lab.

Water samples must be tested by PHO within 48 hours of collecting the sample. Therefore, residents must collect and drop off their samples as close as possible to the scheduled courier pick-up time.

Residents can now submit water sample requisition forms online, after picking up a collection kit, and receive results on PHO’s Online Water Testing Portal within a few days. If submitting a paper requisition form, test results will be available directly from PHO by phone, mail, or email.

If a test returns with an adverse result, residents can call Grey Bruce Public Health for assistance.

PHO’s well water testing program is not for residents on municipal water systems.