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- Success Story -
This program is just one example of Extension programming that has positively impacted drinking water quality. Please check back periodically for other highlighted programs.
Private Well Water Initiative – New England Regional Water Quality Program Partners with EPA New England
The
Private Well Initiative teaches New England private well owners
how to test and adequately treat their well water as well as assess
and prevent water quality contamination around their homes. The
Initiative is a partnership with the NIFA
Northeast States and Caribbean Islands Regional Water Center 
, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency New England (EPA
New England) and state drinking water agencies.
Situation
The
health and livelihood of New Englanders depends on the availability
of a safe drinking water supply. Even though 20% of New Englanders
drink water from private wells, it is a water source that is not
regulated to the extent that public drinking water supplies are.
Private well owners are responsible for the quality of their own
drinking water. They need to be aware of potential contamination
risks to their wells and how to protect against these risks. In
addition, changing property laws and regulations have also created
an increased demand for well water testing. As a result, more private
well owners are demanding well water testing information.
Actions
The Private Well Initiative is bridging the gap to provide information about risks and protection to private well owners throughout New England.
A cooperative agreement with EPA New England, initiated in 2001,
provided funding to the NIFA New England Water Quality Program
for the production of educational materials. These materials include:
A set
of 26 fact sheets on the topic of drinking water testing, contaminants,
and treatment methods. These fact sheets have been
developed for Rhode Island, with funding provided to URI Cooperative
Extension by RI HEALTH, and are being revised and updated by each.
The Rhode
Island fact sheets are available online
and
are distributed to private well owners at monthly Private Well
Protection Workshops in Rhode Island.
One
groundwater demonstration model for each state and a groundwater
educational handbook. A groundwater poster for youth is under development.
At the University of Maine, the groundwater model was used as part
of the Maine Children’s Water Festival, attended by over
six hundred 5th and 6th graders.
Private
well testing brochure and display stand to be distributed in public
places throughout New England, including libraries, town
halls, doctor’s offices and health clinics, and other public
places.
Impacts
Education
of private well owners on drinking water testing, contamination,
and treatment methods.
Valuable partnership between the NIFA New England Regional Water
Quality Program and EPA New England. This partnership is important
to extension programs in each state, creating more opportunities
for funding and allowing states to leverage existing resources.
Strengthening New England residential pollution prevention programs
with the addition of new educational materials.
New partnerships and increased communication within each of the
New England states between extension programs and various agencies
and organizations, which have led to additional positive outcomes.
In Maine a new partnership with the Maine Bureau of Health and
Environmental Toxicology has led to the formation of a “private
well listserve” with Extension, Toxicologists, the Drinking
Water Program, and various specialists in State Government.
Planning Grant received from New England Extension Directors to
conduct a needs survey and hold a planning meeting to identify
gaps in educational programming throughout New England for private
well owners.
For more information on the New England Private Well Initiative, contact Alyson McCann.
Please visit the NIFA Drinking Water and Human Health theme page for more information.
