Free water testing available for private wells, springs, cisterns in Jefferson County

Have you ever had the drinking water from your well, spring or cistern tested for lead and other health-related pollutants?

Penn State Extension will be offering a Private Water Supply Education and Water Testing Program on May 30, at 3 p.m. at the Jefferson County Housing Authority Social Hall, located at 209 N. Jefferson St., Punxsutawney. This program will cover how to protect, maintain and test private water supplies. With funding from a Pennsylvania Department of Health cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control, Environmental Health Capacity building initiative, no-cost drinking water testing will be provided to program participants.

Each water supply will receive testing through a PA DEP state accredited water testing laboratory for coliform bacteria, E.coli bacteria, nitrate, manganese, arsenic, lead, copper, barium and sodium. Registration is required and will be limited to approximately 20 households that use a private well, spring or cistern for their drinking water supply. Registration and further information for this testing programs is available online at https://extension.psu.edu/ private-water-supplyeducation-and-watertesting-workshop, or by calling 1-877-345-0691.

If you have any questions about this no-cost testing program, contact Danielle Rhea at 814-8497361 or drs5277@psu. edu.

In Pennsylvania, over one million homes and farms get their drinking water from a private source. These residents are voluntarily responsible for testing and treating their own water. About half of the private water systems fail at least one drinking water standard, but many pollutants have no obvious indicators. The only way to be certain that water is safe to drink is to have it tested routinely by an accredited laboratory.