By Jean Meiners
Technician, Root River SWCD
The Minnesota Department of Health is offering free well test kits for eligible homes in eight southeast Minnesota counties. Your household may be eligible if: 1) A private well is the main source of drinking water for the place you live, 2) The private well is in Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha or Winona counties.
If your household meets all requirements listed above and you are interested in a well test kit for coliform bacteria, nitrate, arsenic, lead, and manganese use this link to sign up, bit.ly/PrivateWellTestKit or contact the Root River SWCD.
The Minnesota Department of Health recommends testing for bacteria and nitrate annually. Heavy metals should be tested for at least once (manganese, arsenic and lead), but also before a pregnant mother or small child consumes the water. If any contaminants are elevated, it is a good idea to explore water treatment options and to test more frequently.
Private well owners must protect and maintain their well and are responsible for testing their own drinking water. Unused private wells should be properly sealed.
A well that is properly located, constructed, maintained, and tested can provide a reliable and safe drinking water source and serve many domestic, agricultural, and commercial purposes.
You and your licensed well contractor have important roles in keeping your well safe. A safe well helps keep your household healthy and protects Minnesota’s groundwater.
Keep all well records related to well construction, maintenance, repairs, disinfection, sediment removal, and testing.
You are responsible for regularly testing your well water. Both natural sources and human activities can contaminate wells and cause short- or long-term health effects. You cannot taste, see, or smell most contaminants. MDH recommends using an accredited laboratory to test your water.
Inspect Your Well Regularly
- Damage: Any cracks or holes in well casing, corrosion, loose wires, or soil settling?
- Well cap: Is it securely attached to the well casing? Is it broken or missing?
- Connections: Are the electrical conduit and other connections watertight?
Protect Your Well
Do these things:
- Keep top of well at least one foot above ground.
- Keep well area clear of debris.
- Maintain minimum isolation distances from contamination sources.
- Mark your well with flags or posts to protect it from being hit by vehicles or machinery.
- Take precautions before and after floods.
Do NOT do these things
- Allow water to pond around your well.
- Use, store, or dispose of potential pollutants (such as animal wastes, fertilizers, pesticides, or hazardous chemicals) near your well.
- Tie animals to your well.
- Dispose of waste in unused wells.
Contaminant
Mitigation Cost Share
Private well users with contaminants above safe drinking water standards are eligible for mitigation if one or more of the contaminants listed exceed health risk criteria. 1) nitrate-nitrogen levels above greater than the safe drinking water State of Minnesota’s health risk limit standard (HRL) of 10 parts per million (mg/L), 2) arsenic levels above 2 parts per billion (ug/L), 3) manganese levels above the health risk limit for infants, 100 parts per billion (ug/L) or for adults 300 parts per billion (300 ug/L), 4) lead levels above the health risk limit of 15 parts per billion (ug/L), 5) total coliform of E.Coli (detected).
Well users who are eligible based on contamination criteria for arsenic, bacteria (total coliform or E.Coli), lead, and manganese, are eligible for funding assistance to address the following eligible activities to remediate a drinking water contamination issue.
- Well repair: Each eligible well owner can receive funding assistance for well repair or reconstruction, including the cost of new pump or associated piping for a replaced well, including disinfection.
- Water treatment equipment and installation: Each eligible well owner can receive funding for installation of a certified point of use water treatment system.
Well users are also eligible based on nitrate contamination criteria (exceeds 10.0 mg/L), and it is determined that point of use water treatment cannot effectively treat the nitrate concentration. Funding assistance can help pay for the following eligible activities to remediate a drinking water contamination issue.
- Well reconstruction/or repair: Each eligible well owner can receive funding assistance for well repair or reconstruction, including the cost of new pump or associated piping for a replaced well.
- Construction of a new well: Each eligible well owner can receive funding assistance for construction of a new well for a potable water source.
- Water treatment (point of entry or other approved system): For eligible well owners with nitrate levels that cannot be addressed through routine, certified, point of use water treatment.
Funding assistance is available for the contaminates listed above and is determined based on financial hardship criteria or having vulnerable populations in the home. To be eligible for financial hardship funding, an owner or lessee of the property on which the contaminated private well is located must submit financial documentation via the Minnesota Department of Health form. Income information provided will be checked against federal poverty tables. Funding eligibility based on demonstration of financial need will be funded on a sliding scale, 50% for no financial hardship and 100% for financial hardship.
Point of Use Reverse
Osmosis Treatment
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) has a limited number of initial reverse osmosis treatment systems available for private well users in Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha, and Winona counties.
Homes with nitrate levels in their water above 10 mg/L are eligible for a reverse osmosis system. The program pays for 1) full cost of a water treatment system installation at your kitchen tap, 2) free water analysis to confirm proper functioning of unit after installation, 3) one year followup site visit by water treatment company. An application can be found on the Tap-In website, safe-drinking-water-for-private-well-users-gis-olmsted.hub.arcgis.com/pages/707e03bff2a9495482de32e8ee3a7525.
Contact the Root River SWCD with any questions or to discuss options.
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