TESTING THE WATERS: MICROBES, MINERALS TURN UP IN WATER TEST SAMPLES

Right: Two tests are taken from the tap, one is for bacteria and the other is a general chemistry sample.

Sometimes Nancy Foor finds too much iron. Sometimes she finds too many bacteria.

Foor, an environmental health sanitarian for the Cape Girardeau County Health Department, finds all kinds of things when she tests private and commercial water sources around the county.

For the most part, she said, what she finds isn't dangerous; it just makes the water smell bad or taste bad or leave stains in the sink.

Sometimes contamination is found. Chemical pollutants or bacterial contamination from sources such as sewage may be found in drinking water supplies.

And sometimes Foor gets to help with detective work on medical mysteries.

Local physicians may request water samples be tested if their patients have been ill and they can't find a cause.

Every year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate, a million Americans get sick because of poor drinking water quality.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources enforces the parameters on acceptable levels for a variety of metals, micro-organisms and chemical substances, which are based on federal regulations.

Municipal water supplies follow stringent guidelines on how often samples are collected, said Jim Roach, director of public works for the city of Jackson.

Every four hours, Roach's staff samples for chlorine levels. Approximately every other day, they sample for fluoride levels, pH and water hardness. Every two months, they check for E. coli contamination.

Some chemical contaminants are tracked on an annual basis, he said, including herbicides and pesticides, petroleum-based compounds, asbestos and metals.

The city of Jackson gets its water from an underground aquifer.

The city of Cape Girardeau keeps logs on chlorine levels and takes 40 samples a month from different sites to check for bacterial contamination, said Tom Taggart, utility manager of Alliance Water Resources.

Cities keep track of more than 200 contaminants, in total, ranging from bacteria to heavy metals.

Cape Girardeau gets its water from the Mississippi River and from an underground aquifer, Taggart said.

Taggart's biggest headache is making sure the water treatment options his staff uses can keep up with the changing nature of the Mississippi River.

Cryptosporidium, a parasite, is another headache for people who have to keep water supplies safe.

There's no way to test for the presence of the parasite, which was blamed for killing 100 people in Milwaukee in 1996, said Foor.

The parasite is usually found in surface water, but it lives in cattle and can be contracted by people who work with cattle and don't follow good hygiene.

Right now, the only way to confirm infection -- and cases of cryptosporidium infection have been confirmed in Cape Girardeau County -- is by testing the patient.

The local infections have not been linked to municipal water supplies.

Usually, a combination of filtration and sedimentation keep the parasite out of drinking water supplies, Taggart said. Chlorine will not kill it.

People who use private water sources -- wells, cisterns or streams -- have to be careful about contamination, said Foor.

Bacteria from septic tank drainage fields or systems can contaminate water sources, and streams can be contaminated by chemical pollution or animal waste.

When Burfordville was hit by flash floods, the health department was called out to check people's water supplies, Foor said.

"We went out there and did some sampling at some places that use cisterns for drinking water where the cisterns were flooded," she said.

Sometimes people just don't like the way the water looks or smells.

In southern Cape Girardeau County, there's a higher concentration of sulfur in the water, Foor said. It's not harmful, but the odor, particularly in hot water, can be unpleasant.

Foor can recommend how to treat the water to get rid of the problem.