Workshop on water wells coming to Jennings
Clean drinking water is the giver of life, and the lack thereof essentially renders a property worthless. But many people move into homes supplied by a well and never even think about the all-important underground component of their daily lives.
People who fit that description are invited to attend a Private Water Wells Workshop from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, at Jennings Environmental Education Center, 2951 Prospect Road, Slippery Rock.
The workshop will be led by Debbie Sale, master watershed steward with Penn State Extension.
The workshop will be the first of its kind to be held at Jennings.
“I want to make people realize how important their wells are and that they should take care in where they place the well if they are building, but not only that, they should check to see what is in their (existing) well,” Sale said. “My takeaway is to get people informed.”
The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources database contains more than 800,000 water wells and 2,600 springs across the state.
The database reflects the wells and springs reported by well drillers since they were first required to report each well they drilled to the department, which was in 1965. So the thousands of wells drilled before that time are not in the database.
Sale said there are more than 1 million water wells on home and farm properties in Pennsylvania.
“About 3 million people are depending on those wells for water,” she said.
Sale recalled she and her sister-in-law having a new home built in Cabot years ago. A location was chosen to drill a water well, so that’s what the driller did.
“Water squirted out and we were happy,” she said.
If she were to build a home today, Sale said she would determine a potential well’s volume and have it checked for contaminants and other detrimental contents before connecting it to a new home.
“There are things in a well that could actually kill you,” she said. “I want people to think about their water and their well and the value of the water.”
Sale is incredulous that Pennsylvania does not have standards on well water.
“There is no regulation for private wells in this state,” she said. “I don’t know why Pennsylvania doesn’t do it.”
Sale recommends a clearance of at least 100 feet around a well to keep surface water out and to allow groundwater to seep through the layers of earth, where it is purified before entering the aquifer supplying the well.
She said people with properties near farming or mining operations or junkyards could see their wells contaminated, and all wells should be at least 100 feet from any on-lot septic system.
“There are so many things that can pollute,” Sale said.
She said bacteria is a common, but not insurmountable, problem in water wells.
“There are ways to clean up water and make it usable,” Sale said.
Reverse osmosis and ultraviolet light are examples of ways water treatment companies can correct well water, she said.
Sale estimated less than half of homeowners who rely on well water invest in a treatment system to remove hardness, sediment or contaminants.
“There could be things in there you don’t know about,” Sale said.
She said Penn State Extension offers free water-testing kits that can be picked up at Extension offices around the state.
The well owner selects the tests they want, then sends a water sample to the certified lab collaborating with Penn State Extension.
There is a cost for the tests performed on the water, Sale said.
She said the workshop will include a slideshow, information on well water and information she will present on wells and options landowners have for ensuring their water is safe.
Sale said if the workshop at Jennings goes well, she many expand the program to other counties.
There is no cost or registration required for the workshop. Sale hopes turnout is good at the event so county residents can become educated about their water wells.
“There are so many people out there, especially north of Pittsburgh, who could really use some information,” she said.
Miranda Crotsley, program coordinator at Jennings, said the education center offers water quality programs regarding mine runoff and streams, and the well water workshop will be a good addition to water programming.
“We’re in a rural area where a lot of folks have water wells,” Crotsley said. “This is another aspect of water quality and an opportunity to educate the public about drinking water.”
She said the well at Jennings is considered a public water source because visitors and employees drink it, so a water sample must be tested each month to ensure the water is safe.
“We’re certainly glad to do it,” Crotsley said of the monthly testing.
She said Jennings uses ultraviolet and softening systems on their well water.
