Texas well user stewardship practices three years after Hurricane Harvey

Authors: GITTER, ANNA - Uthealth Houston School Of Public Health; BOELLSTORFF, DIANE - Texas A&M Agricultural Experiment Station; GHOLSON, DREW - Mississippi State University; PIEPER, KELSEY - Northeastern University; MENA, KRISTINA - Uthealth Houston School Of Public Health; MENDEZ, KARLA - Uthealth Houston School Of Public Health; GENTRY, TERRY - Texas A&M University

Submitted to: Water
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/31/2023
Publication Date: 11/13/2023
Citation: Gitter, A.C., Boellstorff, D.E., Gholson, D.M., Pieper, K.J., Mena, K.D., Mendez, K.S., Gentry, T.J. 2023. Texas well user stewardship practices three years after Hurricane Harvey. Water. 15(22),3943. https://doi.org/10.3390/w15223943.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/w15223943

Interpretive Summary: Private wells are exempt from the federal requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act; however they are susceptible to contamination from flooding. Consequently, well users must manage (e.g., disinfect) and maintain (e.g., regularly test) their own wells to ensure safe drinking water. However, the practices of well water users and the perceptions of well water quality following a natural disaster are poorly characterized. To understand these practices and perceptions in the years after a disaster an online survey was administered in October 2020 to private well users who had previously experienced Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The survey was successfully sent to 436 participants, and 69 surveys were returned (15.8% return rate). The survey results indicate that well users who had previously experienced wellhead submersion or a positive bacteria test were more likely to implement appropriate well stewardship practices (testing and disinfection) which led to reporting the feeling that their well water was safe. While the majority of well users believed that their water was safe (77.6%), there was a significant decrease in well water being used for drinking, cooking, and use with pets after Hurricane Harvey. Generally, these impacted well users tend to maintain their wells at higher rates than those reported in other communities, but the results indicate that there continues to be a critical need to provide outreach regarding well maintenance practices, especially before natural disaster events occur.

Technical Abstract: Private wells are susceptible to contamination from flooding and are exempt from the federal requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Consequently, well users must manage (e.g., disinfect) and maintain (e.g., regularly test) their own wells to ensure safe drinking water. However, well user practices and perceptions of well water quality in the years following a natural disaster are poorly characterized. An online follow-up survey was administered in October 2020 to private well users who had previously experienced Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The survey was successfully sent to 436 participants, and 69 surveys were returned (15.8% return rate). The survey results indicate that well users who had previously experienced wellhead submersion or a positive bacteria test were more likely to implement well stewardship practices (testing and disinfection) and to report the feeling that their well water was safe. While the majority of well users believed that their water was safe (77.6%), there was a significant decrease in well water being used for drinking, cooking, and for their pets after Hurricane Harvey. Generally, these well users tend to maintain their wells at higher rates than those reported in other communities, but there continues to be a critical need to provide outreach regarding well maintenance practices, especially before natural disaster events occur.