BATON ROUGE - The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Louisiana Rural Water Association, is offering free bacteriological testing (for total coliforms and E. coli) for citizens who have private drinking water wells and systems.

DHH is responsible for regularly testing public drinking water systems; however, following Hurricane Katrina, the department is temporarily expanding its testing to include homeowners with a private well system to ensure they have access to safe drinking water.

If a homeowner's water well was flooded during Hurricane Katrina, the well must first be disinfected with a chlorine bleach solution then thoroughly flushed. Directions for disinfecting wells may be obtained at the drop-off points listed below. Then, the homeowner may collect a sample of water for analysis by a laboratory. Unless the well water is boiled or

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Chemically disinfected as needed, the water should not be used for drinking, bathing or other purposes until sample results are shown to be negative for potentially harmful bacteria.

To have their well systems tested, homeowners can pick up sampling supplies and receive instructions on disinfecting the water, flushing the well system and collecting the test sample, from a sanitarian at the parish health unit.

Once the sample has been collected, it must be kept refrigerated or on ice and delivered to the parish health unit within 20 hours of collection.

The Health Unit will accept samples between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. on designated collection days. Contact your local Parish Health Unit to learn the designated collection days for your Parish. Well water testing began Monday. Drop off points are: St. Tammany Parish Health Unit, 21454 Koop Dr., Suite 2-C, Mandeville, 985-893-6296 and the Washington Parish Health Unit, 1104 Bene St., Franklinton, 985-839-5646.