UVALDE – Anyone interested in private water well management in the Leona River watershed area is invited to a Texas Well Owner Network training Nov. 19 in Uvalde.
The training, which is free and open to the public, will take place from 8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. in the Leona Room of the Uvalde County Fairplex, 215 Veterans Lane, said Drew Gholson, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service program specialist and network coordinator, College Station.
A Texas Well Owner Network training will be held Nov. in Uvalde. Attendees are welcome to bring well water samples to the training for testing. (Texas Well Owner Network photo)
“The Texas Well Owner Network program is for Texas residents who depend on household wells for their water needs,” Gholson said. “Well owners who want to become familiar with Texas groundwater resources, septic system maintenance, well maintenance and construction, water quality and water treatment will benefit from this training.”
He said participants may bring water well samples to the training in order to have them screened. The cost is $10, with payment due when samples are turned in.
“We invite private well owners to bring in a water sample to be screened for nitrates, total dissolved solids and bacteria,” Gholson said.
Well owners who want to have their well water sampled can pick up the sample bags and bottles from the AgriLife Extension office in Uvalde, Medina and Real counties.
The analysis cost is $10 per sample for E. coli bacteria, which will be done by the San Antonio River Authority Laboratory. Sample bags and bottles for nitrate and total dissolved solids screening also should be turned in the day of the training.
Bringing water samples to the training is not required, Gholson said, but if people want their samples analyzed, they must attend.
Attendance is limited, so attendees are requested to register at http://twon.tamu.edu/training or by calling 979-845-146. Every participant will receive a Texas Well Owner Network Handbook, the Well Owner’s Guide to Water Supply.
Gholson said the training is one of 14 being conducted statewide through the Preventing Water Quality Contamination program through the Texas Well Owner Network project.
“The core content of this program is the same as other trainings, but the information is tailored to local water quality issues and aquifers,” he said.
Gholson said more than 1 million private water wells in Texas provide water to citizens in rural areas and increasingly to those living on small acreages at the growing rural-urban interface.
“Private well owners are independently responsible for monitoring the quality of their wells,” he said. “They are responsible for ensuring their drinking water is safe. They are responsible for all aspects of the water system — testing, inspecting, maintaining — and this training will help owners to understand and care for their wells.”
Funding for the Texas Well Owner Network project is through a Clean Water Act nonpoint source grant provided by the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The project is managed by the Texas Water Resources Institute, part of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, AgriLife Extension and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University.
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