UPDATE: EVENT POSTPONED
A Texas Well Owner Network, or TWON, training for private water well owners is scheduled for March 23 in Bandera.
The Texas Well Owner Network program is an educational training offered by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in cooperation with the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and other partner agencies and organizations.
The Well Educated training, which is free and open to the public will be from 1-5 p.m. at the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District office at 440 Farm-to-Market Road 3240 in Bandera.
Joel Pigg, AgriLife Extension program specialist and TWON coordinator, College Station, said the program is for Texas residents who depend on household wells for their water needs.
“The program was established to help well owners become familiar with Texas groundwater resources, septic system maintenance, well maintenance and construction, and water quality and treatment,” he said. “It allows them to learn more about how to improve and protect their community water resources.”
He said participants may bring well-water samples to the training for screening at a cost of $10 per sample, due when samples are turned in.
“Water samples will be screened for nitrates, total dissolved solids and bacteria,” Pigg said.
Well owners who would like to have their well water sampled can pick up two sample containers and sample collection instructions from the AgriLife Extension office in Bandera County, 2886 Highway 16 N in Bandera, or the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District office.
Pigg said bringing water samples to the training is not required, but those who want to have water samples analyzed must attend.
Attendees can register on the Texas Well Owner Network website or by calling 979-845-1461.
“The training is one of several being conducted statewide through the Texas Well Owner Network project,” Pigg said. “The core content of this program is the same as other trainings, but the information is tailored to local water quality issues and aquifers.”
More than a million private water wells in Texas provide water to citizens in rural areas and increasingly to those living on small acreages along the growing rural-urban interface. Private well owners are independently responsible for monitoring the quality of their wells.
“They are responsible for all aspects of ensuring their drinking water system is safe — testing, inspecting, maintaining it,” Pigg said.
Funding for TWON 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, AgriLife Extension and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University.
-30-