Pure drinking water should not have any of the following: minerals, radioactive material, pesticides, animal or human waste, chemicals or microbes. If a person were to drink water containing Escherichia Coli (E. coli), a common symptom usually 3-9 days after exposure is bloody diarrhea without a fever. Long-term complication includes hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), kidney malfunction, high blood pressure, seizures, blindness, paralysis and even death. Obviously, this is a serious threat to public health, so it’s imperative to prevent human and animal feces from entering drinking water sources as well as consistently monitor drinking water sources. So what is usually more contaminated—wells or areas of surface water?

According to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Water and Sewer Infrastructure Project Steering Committee in 2002, 40 percent of sampled wells statewide were contaminated with coliform bacteria. Contamination of these wells can be caused by sewage overflows, malfunctioning septic systems, agricultural runoff near domesticated and wild animal waste.

Surface water is more accessible to contamination since it is above ground. Ponds, lakes and rivers are habitats for animals, which make these places common areas for fecal matter.  Rain runoff and flooding can cause this fecal matter to flow into these ponds, lakes and rivers too.

Basically, any type of water (groundwater or surface water) can be contaminated with harmful bacteria. Alarmingly, 11 percent of Americans are not getting drinking water from water systems that meet all of the health-based standards. Therefore, it is important to remember that looks can be deceiving, so it’s safest to get the water testing and maintained regularly if drinking from it.