Environmental Health: Hurricane Helene Well Water & Septic Guidance

After a flood, the following steps can help ensure that your well is safe for use:

1. Do not turn on the electricity to your pump until flood waters recede.
2. If extensive flooding has occurred, do not drink the water. Use your water reserves and bottled water until your well water has been tested.
3. Contact a driller if you think your well needs to be serviced.
4. If you haven't already, find a nearby water testing lab to obtain sample collection bottles and instructions for bacterial contamination. You cannot see, taste or smell bacterial contamination in your well. In response to Hurricane Helene, the Henderson County Department of Public Health will provide well sampling at no charge in existing private drinking water wells following disinfection.
5. If you live near animal feeding operations, agricultural fields where pesticides are applied or industrial chemical factories, you should contact the health department for additional testing, especially if you smell fuel or chemicals in your water.

If there is bacterial contamination, do not use contaminated water for drinking, cooking, making ice, bathing in any form or washing clothes or dishes. Use an alternative water source until bacteria is no longer detected in your water. Alternative sources include bottled water, a source you know isn't contaminated or boiling your water for five minutes before use.

If you have a well that has been flooded the water should be tested and disinfected after flood waters recede. It is strongly recommended to call a licensed well driller to shock chlorinate the well if it has been flooded. A water well driller will have access to more effective products and will have equipment and experience that a typical well owner will not have.

For more information about well water and health, visit https://epi.dph.ncdhhs.gov/oee/programs/wellwater.html.

Well Water Testing

Well Water Testing - Hurricane Helene Response

In response to the flooding associated with Hurricane Helene, the Henderson County Department of Public Health will provide well water sampling at no charge to residents of Henderson County impacted by the storm. This testing is solely for determining the presence of coliform bacteria and E. coli in existing private drinking water wells following disinfection. 

Post-flood well water samples can only be collected following performance of the recovery steps described in the Department’s How to Keep Wells Safe After Flood guidance.

If you have questions about recovery or other well water testing needs, please contact NCSLPH Customer Service at 919-733-3937.

Septic Tanks

• If your septic tank has been flooded do not use the plumbing system while the septic tank is still under water.
• Do not use your plumbing system if sewage water has backed up into your home.
• Try to reduce the amount of debris that enters the septic tank or drains.
• Avoid contact with sewage from a septic tank that is not operating.

Damaged Wells and Septic Systems

North Carolinians who lost access to water through a private well or damaged septic system as a result of Hurricane Helene may be eligible for FEMA assistance.