Private Water Supply Education and Water Testing Completed in 15 PA Counties

Penn State Extension and the Penn State Master Well Owner Network recently completed water testing and provided education to private water supply owners in 15 counties through a project funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with support from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP), and the Pennsylvania Groundwater Association.

From February through June of 2021, webinars were offered to residents of Beaver, Berks, Bradford, Clearfield, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Mifflin, Monroe, Tioga, Venango, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties. At each webinar, attendees learned about water testing, water system inspection, and maintenance, as well as water treatment options to solve water quality problems. Each attendee received a free water test from a PA DEP accredited laboratory for bacteria, pH, nitrate, manganese, lead, copper, and arsenic. After water testing was completed, participants were emailed a recorded webinar about water test results interpretation that they could watch at their convenience. Twice a month, question and answer sessions were offered so that participants could ask Extension Educators questions about their water test results.

Through this project, 353 water supplies were tested across Pennsylvania.  Across all water samples, there were 231 health-based failures and 141 aesthetic failures. Each water test parameter and the percentage of water supplies that failed for the corresponding standards were as follows:

A follow-up evaluation was emailed to all 353 households in August 2021 to determine if water supply owners had taken any actions to improve the management of their drinking water systems. Of these households, there were a total of 87 responses and only 25% indicated that water testing revealed a water quality concern. When asked what actions they had taken as a result of participating in this program, 7% established a 100 ft. water supply protection area around their well or spring, 9% improved their water system construction, 10% shock chlorinated their well, 13% installed water treatment, and 28% talked to others about what they had learned. When asked if they were able to save money by participating in this program, 92% of participants indicated that they had saved money by having their water tested, improving their water supply construction to avoid installing continuous treatment, learning about appropriate water tests to reduce water testing costs, learning about water treatment to avoid unneeded treatment systems, or installing water-saving appliances.

Penn State Extension will continue to offer educational programs and water testing to residents that utilize private water supplies in selected counties.  In 2022, this program will be offered in Adams, Armstrong, Bedford, Butler, Cambria, Chester, Clinton, Crawford, Erie, Lackawanna, Lebanon, Perry, Potter, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Warren, Wayne, and York Counties. To receive notifications of when water-related programs are offered in your county, sign up to receive emails and select "Drinking and Residential Water" as one of your areas of interest.

Funding for this program was made available from the Pennsylvania Department of Health cooperative agreement with CDC Environmental Health Capacity building initiative (Grant #1NUE1EH001414-01-00) and support from the Master Well Owner Network grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Ground Water Association.