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

德州人开始从哈维飓风中恢复和重建，哈维飓风造成了创纪录的洪水和大范围的破坏。虽然正在努力恢复饮用水供应，并通知居民潜在的污染问题，但德克萨斯州受影响人口的很大一部分要完全负责确保他们自己的私人水井供水的安全和完整性。在美国，安全饮用水法规并不适用于住宅私人水井。在2016年路易斯安那州大洪水之后，研究小组了解到，即使在洪水最严重的六周后，20%的井仍然检测出总大肠菌群阳性，75%的井中检测到军团菌，15%的井中检测到嗜肺杆菌，20%的井中检测到食脑阿米巴原虫。与受洪水影响的水井有关的这种公共卫生风险普遍未得到解决。对于受自然灾害影响的私人井，迫切需要标准化的沟通和补救策略。通过这项RAPID拨款，研究小组将收集微生物水质数据，并在德克萨斯州（和佛罗里达州，飓风伊尔玛之后）的居民返回家园并开始使用他们的私人水井时，描述资源和信息需求。这项RAPID拨款将帮助受飓风哈维（德克萨斯州）和飓风伊尔玛（佛罗里达州）影响的私人井主评估和解决当前饮用水供应的安全问题。这项研究的结果将为是否应该向私人井居民推荐一次性消毒方案以进行恢复提供信息，并且在考虑严重洪水事件后遇到的微生物污染时，还可以深入了解灾难恢复的障碍。研究结果将有助于为政府和公共卫生官员、应急人员和私人井主制定关于洪水后井水危害和井主资源需求的指导方针。更有效的干预策略将帮助井主保护自己和家人免受洪水相关危害。

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.