A Texas Well Owner Network training and well water screening opportunity will be presented Nov. 5 in Bay City. (Texas Well Owner Network photo)
A Texas Well Owner Network, or TWON, training has been scheduled for 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Nov. 5 on the Wharton County Junior College campus, 4000 Ave. F in Bay City.
The network’s Well Educated training is free and open to the public.
Joel Pigg, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service program specialist and TWON coordinator, College Station, said the TWON program is for Texas residents who depend on household wells for their water needs.
“The program was established to help well owners become familiar with Texas groundwater resources, septic system maintenance, well maintenance and construction, and water quality and treatment,” Pigg said. “It allows them to learn more about how to improve and protect their community water resources.”
He said participants may bring well-water samples to the training for screening at a cost of $10 per sample, due when samples are turned in. Water samples will be screened for nitrates, total dissolved solids and bacteria.
Well owners who would like to have their well water sampled can pick up two sample containers from the AgriLife Extension office in Matagorda County, 2200 7th St., Bay City, and the AgriLife Extension office in Wharton County, 315 E. Milam St. in Wharton.
Well water samples can be brought for screening at a cost of $10 per sample. (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service photo)
Pigg said bringing water samples to the training is not required, but those wanting to have water samples analyzed must attend.
Attendees can register at the TWON website or by calling 979-845-1461.
“The training is one of several being conducted statewide through the Texas Well Owner Network project,” Pigg said.
He said the core content of this program will be the same as other Well Educated trainings, but the information will be tailored to local water quality issues and aquifers.
More than a 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 responsible for monitoring the quality of their wells.
“They are responsible for all aspects of ensuring their drinking water system is safe — testing, inspecting, maintaining it,” Pigg said. “This training will help private well owners understand and care for their wells.”
Funding for the Texas Well Owner Network 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.
-30-
