Monday, April 27, 2009
PRINCESS ANNE, MD-A Safe Drinking Water Clinic will be held on Saturday, May 2, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Food Science and Technology Building at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Participants can receive a free water analysis of their home drinking water supply and results of that analysis.
“Thousands of Delmarva residents rely on a private well system for their home drinking water,” says Corrie Cotton, research assistant professor and extension specialist, UMES Department of Agriculture, Food and Resources Sciences. “The homeowner has the sole responsibility of managing the quality of their private well to ensure it meets drinking water safety standards to protect their family’s health.”
According to Cotton, information will be disseminated about how to avoid, detect and treat contaminants that may affect the quality of drinking water. Topics of discussion include: proper well maintenance, land use impacts, wellhead protection, water testing and interpretation, solving water problems and water conservation. Testing for pH, total coliform bacteria, E. coli bacteria, nitrate and total dissolved solids will be done.
Pre-registration is required to receive materials and procedures for collecting home water samples. Contact Cotton at 410-651-6630 or by email at cpcotton@umes.edu to register for this workshop by April 24. The Safe Drinking Water Clinic is free and is sponsored by the UMES Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences.
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Gail Stephens, assistant director, UMES Office of Public Relations, 410-651-7580, gcstephens@umes.edu.