Usually, in the spring, specialists advise to take care of the safety of well water.
Why?
Water can be one of the factors in the transmission of pathogens of intestinal infections, hepatitis, poliomyelitis, leptospirosis, anthrax, tularemia, brucellosis and other infectious diseases.
Infection with these pathogens can cause serious illness and death.
Pathogens of infectious diseases were found in every fifth well of Lviv Oblast, where water samples were examined. These are data for the first two months of 2023.
The survival of pathogens in water is different:
The duration of survival of cholera vibrios in water is from several days to several months.
The causative agents of typhoid and paratyphoid can survive in running water for several days, in stagnant water for more than a week, in silt at the bottom of a well - from 2 to 3 weeks.
The causative agents of dysentery and leptospirosis survive in water for up to 3 months.
The risk of contamination of well water increases due to precipitation, when contaminated sewage from nearby latrines, latrines, farms and pastures enters the wells together with rainwater.
Water pollution contributes to:
- improper arrangement of wells;
- the presence of cracks and damage in the walls of the well log;
- lack of a tire;
- entry of rodents into the well, which may be sick with various infections;
- water in wells can become infected with pathogens due to contaminated buckets used to collect water.
Tips for locating and maintaining a well
1. Disinfection of water will not have a long-lasting effect if the requirements for the location and maintenance of the well are violated.
2. Places of installation of wells should be located on an uncontaminated and protected territory, which is located upstream of groundwater at a distance of at least 30 m from highways with heavy traffic and at least 50 m from latrines, cesspools, structures and sewage networks, warehouses of fertilizers and toxic chemicals, places where livestock are kept and other places of soil and groundwater pollution.
3. It is forbidden to install wells in places subject to flooding, erosion, landslides and other deformations, in low-lying and swampy areas.
4. To protect the well from contamination by surface runoff, intercepting ditches should be arranged, which divert the runoff from the well, around the well it is necessary to make a “castle” of well-mixed and layer-by-layer compacted clay or heavy loam 2 m deep and 1 m wide, or concrete (asphalt) the site with a radius of not less than 2 m on a foundation with crushed stone 15-20 cm thick and with a slope from the well. A stand for buckets should be arranged near the well.
5. Newly built wells should be put into operation only after sanitation and laboratory studies of the well water quality.
6. In order to prevent siltation and infection of water, the well should be cleaned of silt at least once a year, and if necessary, the well should be repaired and disinfected.
7. In case of flooding of the well, the use of water is prohibited, including for washing dishes and other household needs. Remediation of mine wells and disinfection of water in them should be carried out only after the return of the groundwater level to the pre-flood period: water pumping, cleaning and disinfection.
For professional disinfection of wells, you should contact the State Institution "Lviv Regional Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine".
In addition to disinfection, the center's specialists are able to carry out a chemical and bacteriological analysis of water, which makes it possible to assess the safety of using drinking water from wells.
Follow the advice of experts, take care of your health!
Iryna SISUN - doctor-disinfectant of the Department of Epidemiological Surveillance (observation) and Prevention of Infectious Diseases of the State University "Lviv Medical Center of the Ministry of Health"
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