Miss the last round of well water testing? Texas A&M offers another chance

Sgt. Destry Riggs scans flooded areas during a search and rescue operation run by the 36th Combat Aviation Brigade of the Texas Army national Guard over areas hit by Tropical Storm Harvey on Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, north of Beaumont, Texas. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle ) less Sgt. Destry Riggs scans flooded areas during a search and rescue operation run by the 36th Combat Aviation Brigade of the Texas Army national Guard over areas hit by Tropical Storm Harvey on Friday, Sept. 1, ... more Photo: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle Photo: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Miss the last round of well water testing? Texas A&M offers another chance 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Private water well owners who missed Texas A&M University's first round of free testing after Hurricane Harvey have another chance to learn what's in their drinking water.

Over the next month, the university's AgriLife Extension Service, with assistance from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, will be handing out free water sampling kits to residents who own water wells in areas flooded by Harvey.

Researchers will be testing the well water for total coliform, a bacteria sometimes found in feces but more commonly in soil and floodwater, and the more troubling E. coli.

Experts warn that residents should not use water from their flooded wells for cooking, bathing or drinking until it is tested because it can contain sewage from flooded wastewater treatment plants as well as manure, among other things.

In September, researchers received 630 water samples from 21 different counties. The first round of test results, released earlier this week by Virginia Tech, showed that 47 percent of those samples tested positive for total coliform and 10 percent tested positive for E. coli.

This time around, Texas A&M will be handing out about 2,000 kits to qualified residents. To get their water tested, they must pick up a test kit from their local AgriLife Extension office or other designated location. They need to return the samples to the office from 8 to 11 a.m. on the appropriate collection date.

Here are the Agri-Life Extension locations where you can pick up the free kits, which are available now.

*Aransas County, 892 Airport Road, Rockport. Collection date is Nov. 6.

*Chambers County, 295 White Memorial Park Drive, Anahuac. Collection date is Nov. 14.

*DeWitt County, 115 N. Gonzales, Suite E, Cuero. Collection date is Nov. 7

*Galveston County, 4102-B Main St., La Marque. Collection date is Nov. 2.

*Hardin County 440 W. Monroe St., Kuontze. Collection date is Nov. 9.

*Harris County, 9449 Grant Road, Houston. Collection date Nov. 15.

*Jasper County, 271 E. Lamar, Suite 101, Jasper. Collection date is Nov. 9.

*Liberty County, 501 Palmer St, Liberty. Collection date is Nov. 14.

*Newton County, 509 N. Main St., Newton. Collection date is Nov. 9.

*Orange County, 11475a Farm-to-Market Road 1442, Orange. Collection date Nov. 9.

*San Jacinto County, 11 Carrier Ave, Shepherd. Collection date is Nov. 14.

*San Patricio County 219 N. Vineyard St, Sinton. Collection date is Nov. 7.

*Victoria County, 528 Waco Circle, Victoria. Collection date is Nov. 7.

*Walker County, 102 Tam Road, Suite B, Huntsville. Collection date is Nov. 6.

*Waller County, 846 6th St, Hempstead. Collection date is Nov. 6.

*Wharton County, 315 E. Milam St., Wharton. Collection date is Nov. 28.

Alex Stuckey covers science and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.