If your family gets drinking water from your own well, do you know if your water is safe to drink? What health risks could you and your family face? Where can you go for help or advice? All of us need clean water to drink. We can go for weeks without food, but only days without water. Contaminated water can be a threat to anyone’s health, but especially to young children. Sevier County has over 20,000 households depending on wells for their only source of drinking water. This ranks as the highest number in the State Of Tennessee. Past testing has shown that nearly one half of all these wells have some levels of coliform bacteria in them. Having coliform bacteria in your drinking water is not always a problem, but it can be an indicator that other problems with your drinking water exist. There are some things that homeowners can do to help ensure the safety of their water.

 Well Safety Tips

Don't store or mix chemicals near the wellhead. A simple spill could go directly into the well.

Don't pour pesticides or other dangerous chemicals down the drain.

Take care when using chemicals to melt ice in the winter. They can pollute groundwater.

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