Fecal Coliform Found in Prison Well Water, Health Report Reveals
Clean water is not a privilege, especially behind prison walls. But a 2025 inspection by the Ministry of Health and Wellness is raising serious concerns about the water being used inside the Belize Central Prison. According to a ministry memorandum released last September, tests found fecal coliform in the prison’s well water, along with chemical levels that exceeded World Health Organization drinking water guidelines. While Belize Water Services water is reportedly used for cooking, the well water was being used to wash vegetables and meat before preparation. The findings now raise urgent questions about the safety of inmates and staff. We reached out to Acting CEO Francis Woods for answers. Here is what he told us.
On the Phone: Francis Woods, Acting CEO, Kolbe Foundation ‘
“First of all, we have a well that is used for flushing toilets, not for cooking, not for drinking, not for bathing. Each inmate is provided with five gallons of water, potable water from BWS and that is for drinking, for bathing and washing their clothes. That is the situation. That is BWS water, the same sources that feed Hattieville residents and residents along the road. That is what we use always for cooking and for drinking as well. We did use that well and we have tested it before, and previous test did not show any form of fecal coliform of anything like that. But that one test did, so we immediately rectified that and made sure it was in no way close to food handling or anywhere like that. We rectified it right away and we reached out to the Ministry of Rural Transformation for technical assistance on how to handle that well. That well has a high iron content. That is the reason we stopped using our RO facility. It became unsustainable to change the filters because the high iron content would plug the filters very frequently.”
Notably, of the samples taken, only the untreated well water contained fecal coalification. The water samples tested from BWS taps and the prison’s purified water did not contain any of these microorganisms.
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