Well Water, Health In Suburban Philly Subject Of Temple Research

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Temple University's College of Public Health is recruiting families in Berks, Bucks, Chester, Lancaster, Lehigh, and Montgomery counties that have children under four years old to help in a study of private wells and health.

Thousands of families in the counties surrounding Philadelphia get their household water from private wells. Environmental regulations protect public drinking water systems, but public safeguards don’t apply to these privately owned wells, where water quality testing is the responsibility of individual owners and the prevalence of waterborne diseases can threaten residents’ health.

A new study by Temple University’s College of Public Health aims to explore illness-causing microbes in residential well water in six counties around Philadelphia. The $3.6 million study, called the WET Trial, is funded by the National Institutes of Health and will run for the next four years.

It will give owners of private wells an opportunity to improve the cleanliness of the water their families use and to participate in research aimed at making drinking water safer for everyone.

“We’re hoping to better understand if drinking well water can cause illnesses in children that can include diarrhea, fever, even respiratory problems. We want to know if treating well water can prevent these illnesses,” said Dr. Heather Murphy, who is leading the study.

Murphy is director of Temple’s Water, Health and Applied Microbiology (WHAM) Lab and an adjunct research associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics.

Beginning in March 2021, the multi-year study will equip 908 households with free whole-home ultraviolet well-water treatment systems. The project is currently recruiting families in Berks, Bucks, Chester, Lancaster, Lehigh, and Montgomery counties that have children under four.

Participating families will have a water treatment device installed in a basement or outside the home. Families will live as they normally do, and researchers will look at how often the children get sick. All participants will respond to weekly text messages and occasional questionnaires. Some will be asked to submit stool, saliva and water samples to be tested for specific microbes.

“It's all remote and contactless,” Murphy said.

Temple’s WHAM Lab studies microbiological contamination of water supplies and the impact on public health. One focus has been on private well water, which is vulnerable to microbes in the environment. These microbes can travel to well water from a number of sources including agriculture and septic systems. Private wells are also not limited to rural areas — are often used by families in suburban and rural subdivisions.

These subdivisions are putting homes closer together, sometimes bringing septic systems and wells closer together. Germs from septic systems can move into people’s wells. In agricultural areas, there is a greater concentration of animals and feces that can get into the environment, Murphy explained.

“More frequent severe weather events can also help these contaminants move around our environment. We want to provide guidance and support for those who are concerned and would like to get their water treated,” she explained.

Murphy said the extent of septic system use in the suburbs is surprising. "It's a patchwork, some are on municipal water, some have private wells, some use septic systems."

She also said there is evidence that aging leaking municipal lines can be a source of private well contamination. "Suburban areas may not be thinking about issues of waste, but there are a lot ways that wells can become contaminated. Septic use can be dense in the suburbs."

Counties around Philly were chosen, she said, because they represented a mix of persons who'd be close to factors for risk of contamination. These factors included agriculture operations, forested operations, and other land-use factors. "We wanted a good representation of different land use. Subdivisions here are close to each other, some developments are close to farms. Some have nothing around for miles."

The whole-home UV water treatment systems are being donated by Trojan Technologies, a leading manufacturer of ultraviolet systems for residential, industrial, and municipal applications. There are incentives for families that participate. Families can receive up to $100 in gift cards, including $10 for submitting children’s stool samples during the study.

The device will be installed at the point of water entry to the home, Murphy explained. She said the UV treatment system works with a lamp, as water flows through the system. The special UV light has germicidal abilities, a very effective way of inactivating germs in the water, she explained.

"The technology is not new; many municipal treatment facilities use this technology. It's an effective way of treating drinking water without chemicals," Murphy said.

The study plans to have 908 families. Researchers will collect water, stool, and salvia, though not every week. Murphy said the study will be recruiting over the next 3-4 years.

She explained half the homes will have an inactive device, selected randomly to see if there is a difference. The active and inactive devices will look the same.

At the end of the year, all will be given a fully active UV device, she said.

Murphy said the five suburban Philly counties are all close enough for researchers to physically go to the homes for sample collection.

"Participants don't have to go anywhere; we come to you, there's nothing the participants have to do." said Murphy. The study will monitor its participants for one year. With weekly text messages, they will check if kids are sick.

"Parents of small children are very busy. But if a child is sick, we will ask a few more questions," she said.

As a small incentive for helping in the research, participants will be entered into a raffle to win a weekend trip to either Hershey Park or Dutch Wonderland for a family of four, a $2,000 value. Individuals can receive a $40 gift card for successfully enrolling any family, even if they are not in the study themselves.

"We believe this treatment will help people broadly, but the study is focusing on children under 4, who are more vulnerable. Many factors make children more susceptible to exposure," Murphy explained.

Private well owners with a child under four at home, interested in participating can learn more at the trial's webpage.

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