DEQ offers free testing for wells in flooded areas

TULSA — The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality has offered free testing of water samples from privately-owned wells in areas that have flooded during the recent storms.

“The real concern we have is for those people who have a private water well that has been submerged in flood water,” DEQ spokeswoman Erin Hatfield told KRMG Wednesday, “because obviously flood water has a lot of things in it that you might not want in your drinking water.”

She tells KRMG the free offer expires May 31st, so the agency urges people to act quickly.

Hatfield also warns that if the water is contaminated, the well’s owners need to take immediate action.

“If your well - your private water well - has been submerged in the flood water, we recommend that you don’t drink the water until you disinfect your well,” she said.

The process isn’t complicated, and basically involves using common laundry bleach as a disinfectant.

Of course, it is important to use the right amount, and the right kind, of bleach.

You will find an explanation of that process on the Oklahoma DEQ website.

Residents in 55 Oklahoma Counties qualify for the free testing if their wells were submerged by flood water.

That includes Tulsa, Creek, Okmulgee, Osage, Rogers, and Washington Counties.

Get disinfection and sampling instructions and supplies by calling DEQ at (800) 522-0206.