Nitrate Testing for Well Water

In the Southern Willamette Valley of Oregon, there is a large population of residents who use private wells. This area also has a problem with high values of nitrate in the shallow groundwater. We have used a combination of offering free nitrate screening using the LaMotte colorimetric test and providing Rural Living Basics classes (similar to Home-A-Syst) to help educate homeowners on the issues associated with nitrate in drinking water and what steps they can take to protect themselves and their families - including regular testing at an analytical laboratory. We have also used several other outreach techniques. I would be happy to discuss this with you. I am also providing two links to our web sites, which may have useful information for your project. http://groundwater.orst.edu/Willamette/vol-monitor.htm http://groundwater.orst.edu/Willamette/index.html

Audrey Eldridge
SWV Groundwater Management Area
541-776-6010 x223 

My colleagues in Environmental Health have done some interesting work in motivating private well owners to test their water quality, focusing on uranium and arsenic, but with the test suite including nitrate. A web site with their materials is located at http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/eohp/wells/mewellwater.htm They've worked with focus groups to tailor the message delivery to the target audience.

Andy Tolman

Water Resources Team Leader
Maine Drinking Water Program
Department of Health and Human Services,
Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention,
Division of Environmental Health,
286 Water St., 3rd Floor, #11 State
House Station, Augusta, ME 04333
287-6196

Tom,

Here in Nebraska the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department has been doing a wellhead testing program focussed on testing for nitrates for probably five years now, maybe a bit longer. We have partnered with the Future Farmers of America (FFA) groups at high schools, initially here in Lancaster County, but for perhaps the last three years received grant money to go statewide, again organizing sampling events through the local FFA groups. Here are two folks you might contact who have worked on the program and could give you more details: Phil Rooney: [email protected] or John Chess: [email protected] It's been a very successful program and the hope is to get enough funding to go nationwide with it at some point.

Best Regards,
Harry

Harry A. Heafer
Coordinator Keep Lincoln & Lancaster County Beautiful Program Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department
3140 'N' Street Lincoln, NE 68510
402-441-8035 402-441-6206 fax
[email protected]
www.lincoln.ne.gov Keyword: KLLCB