From the Ukiah Daily Journal
By Adam Randall
Updated: 07/16/
Mendocino County residents who wish to test their drinking water for bacteria can do so with help from the Mendocino County Health and Human Services Agency and Environmental Health. Dave Jensen, director of the Mendocino County Environmental Health Division, said his office regularly tests water at public facilities like restaurants that use the municipal water supply, but don’t test at residential locations. Residents interested in testing their water can stop by the Ukiah office at 860 N. Bush St., or in Fort Bragg at 120 W. Fir St., to pick up the necessary materials, according to the Health and Human Services Agency. The materials include an empty bottle to fill up from a water supply source and instructions to take home. After the bottle is filled it should be returned directly to Alpha Laboratories of Ukiah, where it will be tested for $35. In coastal areas of the county, a courier will pick up the samples from the Fort Bragg office of Environmental Health, according to the HHSA. Alpha Laboratories provides a report confidentially only to the resident who paid for the testing. Further testing for pesticides and heavy metals would require an additional price quote from Alpha Laboratories, according to the HHSA. “I hope people are testing their water as some wells are getting shallower,” Jensen said. “It’s always a good idea to know what you’re drinking.”