Governor Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation for 22 counties in northwest and north central Iowa due to the severe weather events that occurred on June 21, 2024.
“The recent flooding has inundated many municipal treatment plants in cities and towns as well as rural private wells,” said Mike Schueller, associate director of the State Hygienic Laboratory (SHL) at the University of Iowa. “This will pose environmental health challenges throughout recovery and reestablishment of services. The State Hygienic Lab is making every effort to support the affected communities.”
As Iowa’s Public Health Laboratory, the SHL provides all the testing services to ensure that water supplies are safe for consumption and wastewater treatment is compliant with environmental standards.
The services that SHL provides during these events include:
- A full menu of bacterial testing for both drinking water and wastewater
- Inorganic analyses for both water and wastewater that includes BODs, nitrates, metals, ammonia, solids and several others
- Private well testing kits through the Grants to Counties program at no charge to the well owner/user
All the necessary kits for sample collection are available through the SHL. The lab will ship the kits to county health directors who request them and will arrange for return of the samples to the lab’s locations through use of SHL’s courier or logistics company during this emergency. The lab has testing locations in Ankeny, Lakeside (Milford), and Coralville.
If you have questions, or concerns about testing options, please contact SHL’s Environmental Client Services at SHL-Environmental-Services@uiowa.edu or 319-467-1589.
For further information on testing options, please visit SHL’s website.