Thursday, June 23, 2011
PRINCESS ANNE, MD -(June 22, 2011) A Safe Drinking Water Clinic is offered on Saturday, July 9, at 10 a.m. in the Food Science and Technology Building on the UMES campus that will help private well owners protect their family’s health.
Thousands of Delmarva residents rely on a private water system for their home drinking water supply. Delmarva’s homeowners, therefore, have the sole responsibility of managing the quality of their private water well to ensure it meets drinking water safety standards. Proper water system maintenance and/or improvements are sometimes not made, however, due to a lack of knowledge and/or financial assistance.
Participants in the Safe Drinking Water Clinic will benefit from attending by receiving a FREE water analysis of his or her home drinking water supply and by receiving information about the results of that analysis. Specifically, homeowners will learn how to avoid, detect, and treat contaminants that may affect drinking water quality. Topics of discussion will include: proper well maintenance, land use impacts, wellhead protection, water testing and interpretation, solving water problems, and water treatment basics.
Home drinking water samples will be tested for pH, total coliform bacteria, E. coli bacteria, nitrate, and total dissolved solids. Anyone interested must register to receive the materials and procedures for collecting a water sample. Email Corrie Cotton at cpcotton@umes.edu or call Gloria Pugh at 410-651-6168 to register for the workshop by Friday, July 1.
This program is sponsored by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
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Suzanne Waters Street, agriculture communication specialist, School of Agricultural & Natural Sciences, 410-621-3850, sstreet@umes.edu.
