With the annual spring melt underway, Interior Health is advising all homeowners with private wells to take appropriate steps to safeguard their drinking water.

When spring runoff flows into a well and mixes with the source water, there is significant risk of bacterial contamination.

Homeowners should:

路 Consider whether their well is equipped to ensure their tap water is clean and safe.

路 Ensure their wells are properly protected from flooding.

路 Take appropriate water treatment measures and test their well water regularly to prevent water-borne illnesses caused by contamination of water with harmful bacteria such as E.coli.

For information related to well water testing, please visit .

The list of laboratories approved by the B.C. Provincial Health Officer for drinking water microbiology testing is available here:.

The Interior Health website鈥檚 Drinking Water page also has a variety of information related to clean, safe, and reliable tap water, which can be found here:.

HealthLinkBC Well Water Testing file attached.

Interior Health is committed to promoting healthy lifestyles and providing a wide range of quality health-care services to more than 740,000 people living across B.C.鈥檚 vast interior. For more information, visit , follow us on Twitter @Interior_Health, or like us on Facebook at .