RAPID: Potable water hazards and resource needs in private well communities impacted by extreme flooding events

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Texans are starting to recover and rebuild from Hurricane Harvey, which caused record-setting flooding and widespread destruction. While efforts are underway to restore drinking water supplies and notify residents of potential contamination concerns, a significant percentage of the impacted population in Texas has complete responsibility for ensuring the safety and integrity of their own water supplies coming from private wells. Safe drinking water regulations do not apply to residential private wells in the United States. After the Great Louisiana Flood of 2016, the investigators' team learned that that even six weeks after the height of the flood, 20% of wells still tested positive for total coliform bacteria, and DNA markers for opportunistic pathogens were detected in 75% of wells for Legionella spp., 15% for L. pneumophila, and 20% for the brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowerli. Such public health risks associated with flood-impacted wells have been widely unaddressed. Standardized communication and remediation strategies for private wells affected by natural disasters are urgently needed. Through this RAPID grant, the research team will collect microbial water quality data, and characterize resources and informational needs as residents in Texas (and Florida, following Hurricane Irma) return home and begin to use their private wells. This RAPID grant will help assist the private well owners impacted by Hurricane Harvey (Texas) and Hurricane Irma (Florida) in assessing and addressing the current safety of their potable water supply. Results from this research will inform whether one-time disinfection protocols should be recommended to private well residents for recovery, and also provide insight to impediments to disaster recovery when considering the microbial contamination encountered after severe flooding events. Results will aid the development of guidelines for government and public health officials, emergency responders, and private well owners, on well water hazards after floods and the resource needs of well owners. More effective intervention strategies will help well owners to protect themselves and their families from flood-associated hazards.