Penn State Master Well Owner Network Hosts Special Private Water Supply Education & Testing Webinar Series

By Bryan Swistock, Extension Water Resources Coordinator

The Penn State Master Well Owner Network annually provides basic, onsite water testing for several hundred private water system owners who attend Safe Drinking Water Clinics. 

A new grant through a Pennsylvania Department of Health cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control, Environmental Health Capacity building initiative (Grant #1NUE1EH001414-01-00) will allow MWON to expand this testing to over 600 households in 18 counties between February and July 2021. 

Counties included in the 2021 testing are Berks, Bradford, Beaver, Bedford, Clearfield, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Erie, Franklin, Lancaster, Mifflin, Monroe, Potter, Tioga, Venango, Washington, and Westmoreland. 

Similar testing will be provided in Huntingdon, Indiana, and Mercer Counties through a separate grant from the Rural Communities Assistance Partnership. 

Additional counties will likely be added for testing in 2022.

Each water supply will receive testing through a PA DEP state-accredited water testing laboratory for coliform bacteria, E.coli bacteria, nitrate, manganese, arsenic, lead, and copper. 

Registration will be limited to approximately 33 households per county. Each household must own or rent a primary residence (no camps) in that county that uses a private well, spring, or cistern for a drinking water supply.

 Registrants are required to attend a one hour initial webinar to learn about the testing program. 

Homeowners will either be mailed water testing kits or they will pick up and drop off kits at a designated location in the county. 

Optional follow-up webinars will be offered to provide interpretation of results and to answer questions.

These special webinars will be held Noon to 1:00 p.m. for residents of these counties--

-- March 29 - Beaver County

-- April 12 - Westmoreland County

-- April 19 - Tioga County

-- April 27 - Cumberland County

-- May 17 - Berks County

-- May 17 - Venango County

-- May 19 - Bradford County

-- June 7 - Lancaster County

-- June 14 - Washington County

-- June 14 - Columbia County

-- July 12 - Potter County

-- July 12 - Bedford County

-- July 19 - Erie County

Click Here for the latest webinar schedule and links to register.

(Reprinted from Penn State Extension Watershed Winds newsletter.  Click Here to sign up for your own copy.)

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[Posted: March 22, 2021]  PA Environment Digest