PA Environment Digest

Residents of Somerset and surrounding counties will be offered an opportunity to attend a training workshop on how to properly manage their home’s private water system (wells, springs, or cisterns).

Resource professionals such as Penn State Cooperative Extension, the PA Ground Water Association, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will offer training on April 9 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Somerset County.

Residents who rely on private water systems as their home drinking water supply may be at risk of drinking contaminated water. In Pennsylvania, public drinking water supplies are the only water supplies that are tested and protected against contamination.

Private water systems are unregulated, so landowners need to take the proper measures themselves to ensure that their drinking water is safe for consumption.

This workshop is offered as part of the Master Well Owner Network, a program intended to teach volunteers from across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania about proper management of their own private water system. In return, the volunteers must go out into their local community to educate others about the importance of proper management of private drinking water supplies.

“During the training, we’ll cover proper well location, construction, and maintenance, land-use activities associated with individual pollutants, drinking water standards, water testing, and water treatment,” says Stephanie Clemens, coordinator of the Master Well Owner Network.

All volunteers will receive a handbook and other educational materials, a free sanitary well cap, a free lunch, a certificate for completion of the training workshop, access to Penn State Water Experts, and an invitation to the Pennsylvania Groundwater Association summer conference.

To become part of this network or for more information, please contact Stephanie Clemens at 814-865-2250 or by sending email to: mwon@psu.edu.

Information and a volunteer application can be found at the Master Well Owner Network webpage. Space is limited and applications are being accepted until all spots are filled.

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