By PATRICK ERVIN
Publisher
Whenever your town, city or county issues a boil water notification, it’s the system at work. According to Mississippi State University Extension agent Alex Deason, water quality and proper systems to improve it are issues at all levels of society. For the most part, people within the city limits and those who fall under the auspices of some sort of regulatory or government body have protocol in place for monitoring impurities and correcting abnormalities. But Delta residents living in rural areas where well water is the daily household supply face a different challenge. “Because of health issues that could possibly be associated with water, cities and towns are required by law to do periodic testing and sampling daily,” Deason explained. “But if someone is on private land and getting their water from a well that maybe their grandfather installed 50 years ago, then there is no such program. That’s why we at Extension are providing sampling and testing kits for them until May 12.”
Mississippi State Extension Service’s testing program for rural residents on well water systems is free. Deason said that the testing will determine if residents’ well water has any unhealthy levels of metal or bacteria.
“A couple of generations of people may have lived off the supply from the same well and never had the water tested,” he said. “This program gives them the peace of mind and confidence to find out if their water supply is ok and some corrective action steps to take if it isn’t ok.”
Residents may call the Extension Service at (662) 887-4601 to arrange for picking up their testing kits at the 1125 Martin Luther King, Indianola office. Accompanying the test kits will be educational material about water quality and ways to address water quality issues.
Deason explained that the actual testing of the water will consist of three samples. These include when water is first turned on in the morning, a sample after water is allowed to sit overnight, and a flush sample. “So far, the program has been very welcomed and received very well by rural residents,” Deason said. “The problem is just continuing to get the word out because these are private land owners that are not on a system like a city water department where they can be easily contacted.”
Most Extension Service offices in surrounding counties are also offering water testing to rural well water users.
