Who drinks out of their tap anyway? The people who write this stuff need to boil their brain...

My policy is I would no sooner buy water than pay for air to breathe.

The tap has always been fine for me.

Whatever doesn't kill you makes you strong!!

I believe tap is fine. The more people who are afraid of 'germs' the more get sick!

How does the state know more about our water quality than our county health department?

I'll drink fitered tap water, but not straight out of the tap unless for coffee. Try filtered only for a while and you will never go back.

Ok...#1 is straight out of the well.
#2 is filtered with the salt.
#3 is R.O. ( reverse osmossis)
Now, which one can I NOT drink? Don't drink the one that was flooded.....my gosh, till the 'flood' water reaches my well...100 ft.....if it isn't clean,( filtered) when will it ever be? Not scared.

Our fine tax dollars at work in both Collier County and the great State of Florida.

Excellent point Pontiaction in #5.

If your well wasn't flooded, you don't need to boil your water. The statement from the local folks was clear.

The press likes to find variations in statements and make a big deal out of it.

I drink water from my well system and used to track diseases associated with contaminated water. We didn't flood. If we had, I would have used the simple measures outlined by the local health authorities.

Welcome to politiks 101..

Maybe they meant city tap water? As in previous storms that was common to boil it. I can't see boiling water that is coming straight from an aquifer 100+ feet down into the ground from a closed system.
#9 BTV is right. Wells not flooded should be fine you would think...

the thing is kids, if you have a well you and your neighbors also have SEPTIC TANKS. hello? does the Gov have to spell it out for you?

mimibuck: first septic systems and wells are the prevail in the Estates and some other areas of Collier County which might surprise you. Septic systems are not just holes in the ground collecting waste. These systems are miniature waste water treatment "plants" in that they digest the waste and make the bacteria inert (kill it so it can't make you ill.) Private wells for drinking water are not SHALLOW wells but do go beyond the confining layer (protective layer of karst) into an aquifer which is totally isolated from the septic systems.

The wells and septic systems are required to meet science based setbacks to assure public health.

Second, ONLY wells which have been flooded pose any risk. Tallahassee's figureheads are often in the stratosphere and unfortunately when they "misspeak" the folks who are their underlings are put in the position of going along with the official word.

Perhaps there were some wells in the Estates which flooded. Golden Gate City had a fair amount of water and they may have more people With wells in need of boiling. Hope they put out this notice to the City in Spanish and Creole. I am NOT being racist but the fact of the mater is if you misspeak or don't get the right info to the right people in the language they understand you muddy the waters of communication and lose credibility.

I have had to "eat" my words when I told the truth in the past. One time the PR person was out and I told my superiors that I was uncomfortable about talking to the press about a outbreak. Nonetheless, I was told to give a summary. So I did. At the same time someone from the program office issued a statement which in part contradicted mine. They were flat out wrong, but the were in charge so they were "right".

Too bad as I think this local department does a good job. Tallahassee folks...well, IMO, having had to work with a number of these political appointees in my time of service...The top people are often just figureheads. They look great on paper but in reality are pretty out of touch with what is practical, real or science based.

A more significant risk is to children who play in flood waters such as the ones some cub reporter featured while covering Fay. This idiot reporter for WINK was delighting in the children as they surfed and splashed fully immersing themselves in water in the storm ditches along Rattlesnake Hammock Road! At least the WINK anchors suggested strongly this was a very bad idea.

Common sense isn't common, here OR in Tallahassee (seldom is in Atlanta anymore either!...the CDC is in Atlanta.)

I typed "first septic systems and wells are the prevail in the Estates and some other areas of Collier County which might surprise you"

Missing a word or two...the sentence should read "first septic systems and wells are the prevalent systems in the Estates and some other areas of Collier County which might surprise you."

Sorry, I was pretty irritated to see the local department have to cave to the "General" because the "General" is wrong. RHIP.

This is dumb, but the recent FDA/CDC fiasco regarding salmonella is disheartening to those of us who worked very hard to control and prevent outbreaks despite the obstacles of multiple bureaucrats in the past. It is good to be retired so I can finally tell the truth. I have given thought to writing an expose about what happens behind the scenes. Florida used to have some excellent leadership in public health a few years back. There are still some around who understand what it takes, but as these folks retire or leave in disgust...It may get as bad as some of the Federal agencies are right now.

Heck, I think I will pour me a nice big glass of my own clean well unboiled water over ice made from that same clean unboiled well water and add a tad of scotch. After this, I may need a drink. I will brush my teeth in my own clean unboiled well water and call it a night. My well did not flood. There was no sheet flow, no standing water, none, zero, zip, nada.

the best thing to do if you think you have a contaminated well is to have it chlorinated

I think you guys may be missing the point.

We all pull water from the same ground that has the same water in it. The only thing that I have heard so far is the comment that said you may be ok because the ground will catch the bacteria before it reaches the water table that you draw from.

And the filtering of your water could help. But no filter "at least the ones I'm sure you own" will stop bacteria.

You should have it tested. Why not? Or you can wait until you get the runs. And then you will know for sure.

Its all about bacteria.

Oh and #14 please do not dump chlorine into our water supply. Go buy some water to drink until the bacteria has time to die off.

BIGMAC, are you an expert in bacteriology? Just curious. I am a retired scientist who worked in real world situations for a government agency tracking diseases for a living. To get a grasp on what that means visit this website devoted to the pioneer of epidemiology: Dr. John Snow
http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow.html

I know water and I know wells.

I spent plenty of time in the field working with local people in a number of locations outside of Florida dealing with contamination.

Drinking water wells in Florida are located BELOW not just "ground" but below a formation of limestone called a karst. This layer of rock confines the drinking water.

The chlorination of a well will NOT contaminate our water supply BIGMAC, but if you have a water softener it WILL bind with the resins and screw up your system. The directions for treating contaminated water are correct and scientifically sound. The over reaction by Tallahassee is NOT.
BTW, if you are on any municipal water supply you will have some form of disinfectant in your drinking water and chlorine is one of the most common.

Getting a test done isn't a bad idea for many people, but most of the contamination is not from the water out of the wells, but from the indoor devices we call faucets. Ones which swivel are particularly troublesome and can trap bacteria. So cleanliness indoors is paramount.

Swamp4u2: perhaps some in the local government or SFWMD would like to see a move onto a municipal system, but with that move, setback requirements and density would be changed. No, this not the case in general. Septic systems do not cause the big spills that waste water treatment facilities do and private wells are perfectly safe too. but both must be maintained.

Overreaction from Tallahassee happens. There was a phrase which was popular for a while that said: _ _ it happens. Yep. It happens in Atlanta, it happens in Tallahassee.

PS: The last statement in the article by Ms. Milsap is logical, rational and on the money.

Now if you live in Melbourne! Whoa, they are in a world of hurt as are parts of Glades and Hendry Counties. Before Fay is done with the state, more rain WILL cause flooding of wells and other facilities. We were indeed fortunate we did not have more flooding here.

How do I dump chlorine down my well pipe? And how much should I buy?

MAC: don't do it. Test first if you flooded and boil your water until you get result if you did really get flooded.

As per the good part of the article above: boil water first before using it or disinfect it by adding eight drops of plain unscented household bleach for each gallon of water being used. If the water is cloudy after 30 minutes, repeat the procedure.

The experts did not suggest a time for the rolling boil, but it should be for at least one full minute. Store the water in the refrigerator in a closed container after boiling.

Last check of this article. Should someone object to my comments, they can't fire me as I am retired. Sometimes it is good to have escaped the bureaucratic nonsense; no more walking on eggs telling the truth but not upsetting the muckymucks. I do miss the "chase" and involvement in searching out risk, hence my blogging here.

Stay safe out there. I am out of here.

Like I said in post # 16 "please do not dump chlorine into our water supply" in a reply to post # 14.

Calm down and read before you jump next time.

if your well is contaminated could you tell me how to get rid of the bacteria
well chlorination is a very common practice

big mac: call one of the local well drilling companys to chlorinate your well