Well Water Sampling Certification ---- Immediate Need

With flood waters and oil slicks making their way through the Kansas-Missouri-Okalahoma-Texas areas…I wanted to point out to home inspectors in these areas that there is a Well Water Sampler Certification class being offered in St. Louis in October.

If your needs are more immediate than that, you may wish to contact Joe Farsetta and arrange to purchase the class on CD. While it lacks many of the visual aids and the additional clarification and facts that always come with face-to-face classroom experiences, it will help you to prepare and to qualify to add this service to those you currently offer.

Flood waters contaminate drinking wells, not only with bacteria but with chemical pollutants, as well. Know what tests are necessary and how to collect samples, properly, for each.

It’s a valuable service and people in these areas are in need.

While this article concentrates on the contamination of public water sources, there are thousands of private drinking wells that are suffering contamination from this flood, as well.

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Flood forces western Mo. residents out

ASSOCIATED PRESS
07/03/2007

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – At least 50 people were evacuated by boat Tuesday from a rural community in western Missouri as floodwaters streaming in from neighboring Kansas submerged roads leading to the town.

Bates County Emergency Management Director Tim Young said most residents in and around the small community of Papinville were leaving after the nearby Osage and Marais des Cygnes rivers flooded.

“About half a mile outside town is where the water starts. Most of the roads in town are covered in water, so we’ve got houses as islands and we’ve got boats kind of wandering through to pick people up and provide assistance,” Young said by cell phone from the scene.

In nearby Rockville, which has less than 200 residents, most people chose to stay put, despite the voluntary evacuation that started Monday, he said.

Gov. Matt Blunt, meanwhile, declared a state of emergency and activated the Missouri National Guard to help local communities respond to ongoing flooding along the Kansas border.

Both Rockville and Papinville are in Bates County, where U.S. 71 was closed in both directions along a stretch about 75 miles south of Kansas City.

Evacuees included one family outside town with 10 dogs, all of whom were brought out by boat, Young said.

An emergency shelter was opened at the high school in Butler. Most evacuees were staying with family or friends, Young said, but a few families were expected to spend the night at the shelter.

The Osage River is not forecast to peak until Thursday and could get another 10 feet of water, Young said. The Marais des Cygnes already has crested.

Both rivers run from southeastern Kansas, where several days of heavy rain caused flooding, east to Truman Lake.