Drinking Water Testing and Treatment

Since a safe drinking water supply is essential, the testing and treatment of drinking water receives a lot of attention. Much Extension programming is geared toward educating the public about water quality and what it means as well as how to deal with both health and nuisance issues in drinking water.

Education to Promote Water Testing

Educational programming is an essential component of the CSREES National Water Quality Program. Numerous water quality fact sheets, handbooks and other resources pertaining to drinking water testing and treatment are available through the Cooperative Extension network. In addition to publications, many CSREES projects make additional efforts, such as workshops and train-the-trainer courses, to promote testing of private wells and water systems.

Accomplishment: Auburn University developed a Drinking Water and Human Health Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) database . There are over 1,100 questions and answers arranged into 11 subtopics. By looking at this FAQ database, citizens can learn how to deal with both health and nuisance issues in drinking water.

Washington State University Extension implemented campaigns to instill behavior changes among watershed residents. The program distributed booklets which highlighted water quality issues, and helped residents identify them and commit to taking actions to help maintain Hood Canal’s health. Over 1700 residents were involved in this program. (Pearson, 2006)

A new video Seeing is Believing is available through the University of Kentucky. This 15 minute video informs well owners on how to maintain existing wells and reminds viewers of the importance of water testing.

Example: A Penn State University project commenced in 2003 that will develop a volunteer network. These Master Well Owners will educate other well owners within their own communities to test and manage their wells. In 2006, researchers at PSU received funding to study 450 through the MWON. Preliminary water testing results indicate that more than 50% of private water systems fail to meet at least one health-based drinking water standard. (Clemens, 2007)

A 4-H Environmental Stewardship Impact Project is developing youth, adult and community partnerships across Oklahoma to educate rural residents about their drinking water quality and the management of private wells. The project anticipates evaluating at least 400 rural private wellheads over its 4-year duration. (VanDeventer, 2006)

Drinking Water Testing Services

Within the CSREES network, many Land Grant Universities offer well water testing services or can refer you to a laboratory. Water samples are usually tested for multiple parameters, frequently including bacteria, nitrate, lead, and conductivity. In areas susceptible to high levels of selenium, arsenic, and other heavy metals, these parameters may be included in water analysis.

Accomplishment: The Tex*A*Syst Moblile Lab Program (Success Story) has screened over 4,500 water samples from rural drinking water wells in 46 counties in Texas. After participating in follow-up educational meetings, an average of 27% of participants declared that they gained knowledge on how they can improve their drinking water quality. In a special project, treatment units were installed to lower nitrate levels in drinking water from wells.

Montana has developed the WELL EDUCATED Program, which provides a mechanism to test private well water primarily used for drinking. Water quality parameters and potential trends can be tracked and identified through the database, which may be especially significant for parameters exceeding drinking water standards.

Example Laboratories through Extension:
Alabama: Auburn University Soil Testing Lab
California: University of California DANR Analytical Lab
South Dakota: South Dakota State University Analytical Services

Assisting Small and Under-Served Communities

Contamination of drinking water resources knows no ethnic or economic boundaries. There are numerous CSREES Water Quality programs that focus extension efforts at small and under-served audiences, including women, racial and ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities. Often these programs involve drinking water testing and education.

extension agent consults with a small business owner Accomplishments:
Over four years in the Amish Well Water Testing Program (Hoorman, 2003) at Ohio State University, 204 Amish wells and springs were tested for bacteria and nitrogen; extension agents ran educational programs that helped to improve drinking water quality. Outcomes within the Amish community have included gains in knowledge, changes in attitudes, and adoption rates of 75% to 90% for selected best management practices.
A project at Cornell University (Lemley, 2003) is geared to serve small water system operators; site assessment/risk reduction tools help these water operators assess and identify risks to drinking water and take action to minimize these risks thereby protecting water quality.
The Basic Water Education Program of the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, a flagship award winner through the USDA-CSREES Natural Resources and Environmental Management Program, has implemented a basic water education program geared to limited resource, low literacy audiences. This program has been piloted in 22 counties reaching more than 2100 people. The program has documented behavior changes, such as implementing best management practices, testing drinking water, disinfecting wells, and inspecting and repairing septic systems, as a result to their program.

Examples:

General water quality education and wellhead protection was provided to wellowners in Coastal Plain of Virginia through the Master Well-Owner Network (MWON) program. Well water samples collected from 22 counties (Atalay et al, 2008) indicated that drinking water quality at underserved households in Virginia’s Coastal Plain is in danger of contamination from various sources.
The Mid-Atlantic Region has formulated a topic team “Assisting small and under-served farmers in meeting water quality objectives" .
Oklahoma State University (OSU), the Oklahoma Landowners and Tenants Association (TOLTA), and Retired Educators for Youth Agricultural Programs (REYAP) have been working together to educate rural minority communities to test and protect their drinking water supplies. During the two years of this project, a total of 150 private well owners participated to have their water tested and completed Home*A*Syst program. (Silitonga et al., 2006)
University of Alaska Extension will partner with the pilot community of Eek, a Native American community, and others to identify and address issues related to improving sanitation in rural Alaska communities .

The intent of this page is not to catalogue all activities, but rather to indicate the types of research activities in this theme across the U.S.