Minimizing health risks in water systems

LITTLE ROCK — As Arkansas enters phase one of its reopening plan, customers and workers across the state will be returning to facilities that have experienced reduced water use in recent weeks. It’s critical that building operators take steps to address potential chemical and microbial health risks that can develop in water systems that have been idle.

Recommended actions:

• Thoroughly flush the building’s plumbing system before fully reopening. Begin at the point of entry and flush outwards through the entire building, including all fixtures and showerheads. Check cold water supply for chlorine to indicate fresh water has entered the system.

• Consider draining storage tanks like water heaters and softeners and check for sediment buildup.

• Check aerators, filters, showerheads and other equipment for particles, and clean as necessary.

• Clean ice machines and dispose of three batches of ice after flushing the system.

Building operators can submit samples to the Department of Health to verify the bacteriological safety of the water supply. Details on the process and cost for the service are as follows:

Submitting a sample

1. Collect 100 ml (fill to the line on the sample bottle) in official containers obtained from Central Office or County Health Unit.

2. Complete HL-01 form that came with the sample bottle.

3. Include fee of $17 with sample.

4. Send samples to the lab using lab couriers, UPS, FedEx, or hand deliver. Sample must be analyzed within 30 hours of collection. Do not ship a sample on Fridays.

5. Test results will be available within three working days after receipt.

6. Sample cannot be tested if sample bottle is under-filled, form is not included, form is not complete, or fee is not included.

7. Questions may be directed to the local County Health Unit or Central Office at 501-661-2220.

Additional information on collection

There is a $17 fee to have your water tested at the ADH Water Microbiology Laboratory, and the sample must be tested within 30 hours of when it was collected. In every other respect, the collection and submission of your water sample are exactly the same as if your sample were submitted by a public water utility.

Water samples must be collected in an ADH supplied sampling kit because the bottles are disposable and sterile (sterility has been verified by the ADH lab). The sample bottles also contain a chemical required in the analysis of your sample. Sampling kits may be obtained at any county health unit or from the laboratory office at the ADH Central Office.

The sample must be analyzed within 30 hours of its collection. There are a number of ways to get it to the lab. Our lab recommends that the sample be brought to the ADH laboratory office at 201 South Monroe St. in Little Rock or to the local county health unit. The county health unit will either send it to the lab via UPS or the ADH courier.

For more information, call the local county health unit and speak with the environmental health specialists. The sample may also be mailed, but the USPS does not guarantee overnight delivery, and your sample may arrive too late (older than 30 hours) for testing if sent by mail. Usually, it should take about three business days; including the day the sample is received before the results are ready. The three days do not include the time the sample spends in transit to the lab or the time it takes for the sample results to be mailed. To expedite receipt of results, you may include a fax number on the collection report and the results will be faxed to that number once they are finalized.