By Claire Lane, Urban Conservationist, Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District

When a historic 1,000-year flood struck Hamilton County, Indiana, many residents with private wells were left with an immediate question: Is my water safe to drink?

 Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) already offers well-water testing services, so staff first connected with the Hamilton County Health Department to determine what assistance was already available and where the greatest need remained. The Health Department was providing free testing for flood-impacted wells, but only after the wells had been properly chlorinated. Through that coordination, the Hamilton County SWCD identified a clear gap it could help fill: giving residents the supplies and information they needed to chlorinate their wells so they could then access the Health Department’s testing program.

The community response to the flood was incredibly strong, and we wanted to find a way to help that matched our staff and budget capacity,” said Claire Lane, Hamilton County SWCD Urban Conservationist. “After connecting with the Health Department, we realized well chlorination was a gap we could fill.”

Many affected residents did not know how to chlorinate their wells. Some did not know where their well was located on their property, what part of the well needed to be accessed, or what supplies they would need to complete the process.

To help residents move from flood impact to safe water testing, Hamilton County SWCD assembled well chlorination kits containing the basic supplies needed to disinfect a private well, along with clear instructions for completing the process and how to access free testing post-chlorination.

“Residents were overwhelmed and often didn’t know how to chlorinate their wells or where to find the supplies, so we were able to quickly put together kits that were simple, affordable, and genuinely useful,” said Lane.

Rather than relying solely on residents to come to the Hamilton County SWCD office, staff worked through existing flood-response efforts to get the kits directly into affected communities. Kits were delivered to a staging area in one especially hard-hit community, and additional kits were provided to the countywide flood relief location, making them readily available to residents already seeking assistance.

The Hamilton County SWCD also coordinated closely with the Hamilton County Health Department to address the need for hands-on education. Hamilton County SWCD and Health Department staff spent a day in one affected community talking directly with residents about their wells, answering questions, helping them understand the chlorination process, and explaining when their water would be ready for testing.

The effort highlighted an important role conservation districts can play during disaster response: identifying practical gaps between existing services and what residents actually need to access those services.

“As recovery continues, we’ll be supporting landowners with erosion remediation and re-establishing vegetation,” said Lane. “The chlorination kits were a way for us to meet an immediate need in the direct aftermath of the flood.”

For other conservation districts serving areas with private wells, a simple chlorination kit program can be a relatively low-cost addition to local flood preparedness and response efforts. Establishing relationships with local health departments before an emergency, identifying appropriate chlorination guidance, and having a plan for distributing supplies directly in affected communities can help residents take the steps necessary to safely return their wells to service.

What was in the kit:

• One-gallon non-scented household liquid bleach
• Rubber gloves
• Funnel
• Eye protection
• Step-by-step chlorination instructions (English and Spanish)
• Info on free testing and Health Department contact information

The items were assembled into a 2.5-gallon clear slider storage bag.

Tags: Northeast Region