Environmental Health is working to ensure flooded wells or wells that were damaged during the storm provide safe water for use at home. A flooded well is a well where water was over the top of the well at any point during the storm. Wells may also receive structural damage. If a well was either flooded or damaged during the storm, it must be disinfected.
Instructions for Disinfecting:
Click here for the English Instructions.
Click here for the Spanish Instructions.
After your well is disinfected, you need to get the water sampled.
We have a new water sample process that is a coordinated effort between Buncombe County, NC Division of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency.
If you would like to have your well water tested for bacteria, you can apply in person at Permits & Inspections at 30 Valley St. in Asheville from 8 a.m.- 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. You will receive a water sample test kit. The kit will include directions on how to disinfect your well, how to collect the water sample, and a water sample collection bottle.
Once you follow the directions provided in the kit, you can return the water sample to 30 Valley St. and we will deliver it to a mobile EPA lab. Your results will be ready in the next 48 hours and shared with you by email or phone call.
If you would like to drill your own well for drinkable water:
As a reminder, a permit for drilling a well is needed from our office before you begin drilling a water well at your home. This is both for homes in Buncombe County and in the City of Asheville. The application can be found online at buncombecounty.org/eh.
Water preservation: put a filled 2-liter bottle in the back of your toiler, reuse water by using dishwashing water in the back of the toilet for flushing. At this time, we ask that you do not use water from rivers, streams, or creeks due to contamination from the storm.