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Penn State Extension: Private Water Supply Education, Water Testing Accomplishments In 2024

By Danielle Rhea, Extension Educator

Nearly 200 private wells, springs, and cisterns were tested in 2024 as part of educational webinars and workshops helping private water supply owners identify and solve health-related drinking water problems.

For the fourth consecutive year, Penn State Extension provided educational webinars and accredited laboratory water testing to private water supply owners across Pennsylvania.

Funding for this program was made available from the Pennsylvania Department of Health cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Environmental Health Capacity building initiative (Grant #1NUE1EH001414-01-00).

This year, three webinars were offered to a Statewide audience, one targeting Cumberland County residents, and six in-person workshops were provided in Dauphin, Greene, Jefferson, Lancaster, Monroe, and York Counties from January through August 2024.

After attending a webinar or workshop, participants received a free water test from the Penn State Agricultural Analytical Services Laboratory for bacteria, nitrate, manganese, lead, copper, arsenic, sodium, and barium.

Initial programs discussed water testing, water system inspection and maintenance, as well as water treatment options to solve water quality problems.

Participants were also emailed a recorded presentation to help them interpret their water test results at their convenience and encouraged to contact a Water Resources Extension Educator if they had additional questions about their water test results.

For participants without internet access, phone call-in options were available.

This project tested 197 private water supplies within Pennsylvania. There were 164 health-based failures and 139 aesthetic failures across all water samples.

The following table shows the percentage of water supplies that failed for each parameter that was tested as part of this project [Click Here for results table].

Among the results were: 52% of the wells tested failed for sodium levels; 50% failed due to high total coliform bacteria; 12% for E.coli bacteria; 10% manganese; 6% copper; 5% nitrate; 4% lead; 3% arsenic and 0% barium.

In October, a follow-up evaluation was emailed to all participating households to determine how many had taken actions to improve the management of their water supply.

Of these households, there were a total of 72 responses, and 43% indicated that water testing revealed a water quality concern.

When asked if they had taken any action after attending a webinar, 79% selected "yes" (n=54).

In addition to water testing, other actions participants took included talking to others about what they had learned (50%), learning about a health-related problem with their drinking water that they weren't previously aware of (28%), visiting the Extension website to learn more (26%), installing water treatment for their home drinking water (20%), establishing a 100 ft. water supply protection area (20%), improving their water system construction (19%), shock chlorinating their well (15%), and obtaining a copy of their well completion report (6%).

Additionally, 89% (n=55) of participants indicated that they were able to save money by participating in this program 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.

Future Programs

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.

Questions about this article can be directed to Danielle Rhea at drs5277@psu.edu.

Upcoming Extension Events

-- November 24: In-Person: Meadow Seeding For A Hands-On Stormwater Solution. Rose Tree county Park, Media, Delaware County 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.

-- November 26: Webinar: Do On-Lot Septic Systems Impact Water Quality? Noon

-- December 10: Webinar: On-Lot Septic System Questions And Answers. Noon

-- Penn State Extension Water Online Courses

Other Extension Articles

-- Master Watershed Steward Jane Cook Leads By Example In Lehigh Valley

-- Master Watershed Stewards Naturalize Stormwater Basin In York County

-- Master Watershed Stewards In York Introduce Urban Youth To Fishing

-- Private Water Supply Education, Water Testing In 2024

-- Managing Your Well During A Drought