Well-owner training set Jan. 31 in Seguin

SEGUIN — Anyone interested in private water well management in the Geronimo and Alligator creeks watershed is invited to attend the Texas Well Owner Network training to be held Jan. 31 in Seguin.

The no-cost training will be from 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority annex building, 905 Nolan St., according to Drew Gholson, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service program specialist and program coordinator.

“The TWON program is for Texas residents who depend on household wells for their water needs, so they can learn about improving and protecting their community water resources,” Gholson said. “The program was established to help well owners become familiar with Texas groundwater sources, septic system maintenance, well maintenance and construction, water quality and water treatment.”

This is the first of 14 trainings to be conducted through the Preventing Water Quality Contamination through the Texas Well Owner Network project, he added.

Gholson said private well owners may bring well-water samples to the training to be screened for nitrate, total dissolved solids, arsenic, radionuclides and bacteria.

“The core content of these trainings will be the same, but the information will be tailored to the local water quality issues and aquifers,” Gholson said.

Other scheduled trainings include Wellington, Lubbock, Haskell, Boerne, Fort Stockton, Lampasas and Uvalde.

Well owners who would like to have their well water sampled can pick up two sample containers from the river authority’s regional laboratory at 933 East Court St. in Seguin. They may also be obtained from the AgriLife Extension office in Guadalupe County at 210 East Live Oak St. in Seguin or the Comal County office at 325 Resource Drive in New Braunfels.

“Fill each bottle, according to instructions, with a sample from their well, and bring the two samples to the training on Jan. 31,” Gholson said.

The analyses cost $10 per sample for nitrate, total dissolved solids, arsenic and radionuclides and $10 per sample for E. coli bacteria analyzed by the river authority. Payment is due when samples are turned in at the training.

Bringing water samples to the training is not required, Gholson said, but those wanting to have water samples analyzed must attend the training.

“Over 1 million private water wells in Texas provide water to citizens in rural areas and increasingly to those living in small acreages at the growing rural-urban interface,” he said. “Private well owners are independently responsible for monitoring the quality of their wells. They are responsible for ensuring their drinking water is safe. They are responsible for all aspects of the water system – testing, inspecting, maintaining – and this training will help private well owners to understand and care for their wells.”

Attendance is limited to 80 participants, so attendees are requested to register at http://twon.tamu.edu/training as soon as possible.

Funding for the Texas Well Owner Network is through a Clean Water Act nonpoint source grant provided by the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The project is managed by the Texas Water Resources Institute, part of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, the AgriLife Extension and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University.

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