State officials revise water tests after temperature errors

The Minnesota Department of Health has found more problems with its drinking water testing unit.

The agency says it will retest potentially hundreds of municipal water systems after an internal review exposed inconsistent and inadequate sampling procedures. In some cases, water samples were not refrigerated during transport which could cause them to degrade.

Commissioner Ed Ehlinger said the errors don't pose a significant health risk, but the agency will retest water treatment systems anyway.

"Our first priority right now is to make sure that we do the testing, do it right, and reassure people throughout Minnesota that they have safe drinking water," Ehlinger said.

Last fall the Health Department disclosed that a lab employee failed to assure the accuracy of his water testing equipment.

The agency is now planning a broad independent review of water handling practices at the department and retraining for all staff members.

The re-testing mainly applies to samples that were taken to identify the presence of organic compounds such as fertilizers, solvents and household chemicals.

The review does not apply to water samples that tested for viruses, bacteria, arsenic or heavy metals.