Water Test Kit (Photo provided by Grey Bruce Health Unit)
Grey Bruce Public Health is expanding access to its well water testing program.
This new service, which launched this week, aims to ensure all residents have timely access to the free well water testing program.
Senior Public Health Manager Andrew Barton says the local public health unit is responsible to make sure the water people test from their wells gets to the lab for analysis.
In the early days of the Covid pandemic, policy changes by Grey-Bruce hospitals resulted in a reduction in the number of available locations. Several grocery stores, which had been deemed essential businesses, stepped up to serve as temporary locations.
Saugeen Shores Mayor Luke Charbonneau spoke publicly earlier this year about a desire to see the town’s private well water sample drop-off site restored by Public Health Ontario.
“We knew that when we made the changes during the pandemic, it was intended as a sure stop gap measure just to make sure there was some level of service. Once we got to a point after the worst of the pandemic, we knew we wanted to return to a better and more equitable service that we could get more locations out closer to more residents homes,” says Barton.
Barton says this service will see an increase in locations where residents will be able to access the well water testing program.
“We now have 14 locations across Grey and Bruce that residents can drop their private water testing samples,” says Barton.
Public Health Ontario will pick up the samples at both Grey Bruce Public Health in Owen Sound and in Walkerton five days a week.
More details on how to access this service can be found on the Grey Bruce Public Health website here.
