Access to safe drinking water is a fundamental need that supports community health, prevents waterborne disease and contributes to our overall quality of life. The La Plata County Public Health Department’s Water Quality Lab offers bacteriology testing for Total Coliform and E. coli. These are harmful types of bacteria that can contaminate our drinking water and cause diarrhea, nausea, cramps, infections and headaches. These bacteria may especially be harmful to children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems. The Health Department is proud to provide this essential testing service, which is available to all La Plata County residents and our neighbors in the Four Corners.
If you do not have a well on your property, then you probably receive your drinking water from a public water system. Drinking water from public water systems is regulated by the state of Colorado’s Water Quality Control Division and tested regularly to maintain safety. The EPA Safe Drinking Water Act also includes the Total Coliform Rule to ensure that cities, metropolitan districts and many neighborhood associations distribute drinking water that is determined to be safe for human consumption by regular testing in a Certified Microbiology Laboratory.
If Coliform bacteria are detected in a routine test, a robust reporting, retesting and investigation process starts immediately to correct the issue before illness occurs. The results of public water system tests are public information. You can access them on the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment’s website.
Mandated and regular testing for these bacteria in our public water system is being done through the lab. No news is good news! If you have not received notice, your water is certified safe for use. If you are on a public system and encounter an issue with your water, contact your water supplier or community management immediately.
It is the responsibility of a private well owner to test and treat their own drinking water. Private wells are not covered under the EPA’s Total Coliform Rule, and residents are responsible for assessing the quality and treatment of their own drinking water supply. Resources are available at the LPCPH Water Lab to help maintain safe drinking water from your well. We recommend performing a standard bacteriology test annually around the same time each year. Our affordable Presence/Absence test is recommended for drinking water. While a quantitative test is available, any presence of these bacteria is considered unsafe, and the exact quantity is unimportant.
If your well water has a strong, foul-smelling odor or discoloration, we recommend getting it tested. If a test from our lab comes back present for either or both bacteria, it is essential the well is disinfected. Well disinfection instructions are available on the LPCPH Water Lab website but will be included in an email with positive results. If the well system has a cistern, it is recommended that a professional cistern installer assess your system before proceeding with well-disinfection methods. Numerous causes might explain drinking water issues – contact a professional well or water treatment expert to correctly diagnose and correct the issue.
Occasionally, private well owners will perform a chemistry test via a different lab. The LPCPH Water Lab can only interpret results for in-house tests. There is a useful water quality analysis tool on the LPCPHD website that allows someone to enter test results and receive a water quality interpretation. Access this tool on the LPCPH Water Lab website and follow the helpful link titled “Colorado State University Water Quality Interpretation Tool.”
Samples submitted to our lab must be in one of our sterile sample bottles, or it will be refused. Bottles can be received and submitted at our front desk from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday. Samples must be submitted and processed by the lab within 30 hours of collection, so it is highly recommended to collect and submit a sample the same day. Results are provided within 24 hours. Instructions for collecting a high-quality sample are available at our front desk.
The LPCPH Water Lab also provides testing to monitor wastewater utilities and ensure that our valued recreational waters and streams remain safe. Our services include biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, total dissolved solids, total coliform and E. coli, and fecal coliform bacteria. These services are used to assist wastewater operators with wastewater treatment and monitoring in accordance with the EPA Clean Water Act.
Please contact the Water Lab with any questions about our services at (970) 828-8804 or waterlab@lpcgov.org.
Kim Myers is the La Plata County Public Health Department’s Water Quality Lab supervisor and has a Ph.D. in Aqueous Geochemistry and Microbiology. Olivia Curmano is the Health Department’s Water Lab technician.
