Homeowners whose wells were flooded can now pick up water testing kits at Service New Brunswick locations but you must wait a while before sending them in.
Peter McLaughlin with the Department of Environment and Local Government says you should wait 10 days until after the water has receded from your well to shock-chlorinate it and then another week after that before you test it.
“The last thing you want to be doing is pulling contaminated water into your well so that’s why we ask folks to wait the 10 days prior to shock-chlorinating your well,” says McLaughlin.
McLaughlin tells us with the province offering free well water testing he anticipates there will be quite an influx of samples.
“Understandably people want to get back into their homes as soon as possible but we would ask them for their own health and safety to respect the timelines that have been laid out. The samples will be processed in as timely a fashion as possible.”
He says it takes 48-hours run the test and process it from beginning to end then the results are sent from the lab to the Department of Health who will be contacting residents.
You can pick up the water testing kit at your nearest Service New Brunswick branch.
For information on chlorinating your well, click here.
