I spoke with Erin James Ling who is the coordinator of both
the Virginia Household Water Quality Program, VAHWQP, and the Virginia Master
Well Owners Network, VAMWON, as part of her job in the Biological Systems
Engineering department at Virginia Tech. Erin works under Dr. Brian Benham, who
re-launched the Virginia Household Water Quality Program in 2007 with a
National Institute for Food and Agriculture, NIFA, grant. The VAHWQP uses the
grant to sponsor and subsidize drinking water clinics held throughout the state
where homeowners can get their well water analyzed for 14 chemical and bacteriological
contaminants and cost only $49 (there are locations where the cost of the
analysis is fully underwritten by the county extension office). The
program consists of two meetings- one to get instructions and test kits, and
the other a month later to get results and provide interpretation and
recommendations. Samples are dropped off at the Virginia Cooperative Extension
Office sponsoring the program and driven to Virginia Tech for analysis. The
NIFA grant and trained extension volunteers have allowed Virginia to hold and
subsidize the cost of the analysis for the water clinics in a dozen or more
counties each year.
Erin joined the program in 2008 as the coordinator of the
programs (which is about half her job) and with additional funding for 2013 will
be able to devote more of her time to developing and expanding the programs. The
focus has been primarily on training extension agents and running the water
clinics, but Erin want to move the program beyond that in the future. Since its
inception in 1989 drinking water clinics have been conducted in 87 counties
across the state analyzing 16,000 water samples. Since the re-launch of the
program in 2008 3,000 household samples have been analyzed and results
confidentially returned to participants. The program retains the analytical data
on a county by county basis, but all identifying information like address or
well owner are not kept with the data. The county water analysis data and
questionnaire information is only accumulated to develop a statistical database
on groundwater and household water quality by county and may someday be one of
the more detailed private water supply quality databases in the nation- a
database that can be mined for patterns in water quality, geology and well
systems. In addition, the demographic information could help to develop better
messaging to reach more well owners more effectively.
The Virginia Cooperative Extension was set up to meet the
needs of rural landowners and brings the university knowledge and reliable
information resources to rural people through the extension agents. As the
rural population has changed, the services offered by the extension programs
have evolved beyond the farm agents (like Kimbel, Hank Kimbel of Green Acres)
to master gardeners, and protection of groundwater and health of Virginia
private well owners. Erin with a master’s degree in Environmental Pollution Control
and a second master’s degree in Rural Sociology is uniquely qualified to develop
programs to build awareness of the risks and responsibilities of private water
well ownership and develop programs to communicate technical information to the
public. The Household Water Quality
Program and VAMWON program provide information, education, and tools that you
can use to improve the quality of your life, help you determine if you need a
water treatment system and if needed what system is right for you. The VAMWON consists of Extension agentsand screened volunteers trained in the proper design, management, andmaintenance of private water supply systems (springs, wells, and cisterns).VAMWON trained extension agents organize and conduct the county-based drinking
water clinics and serve as a local resource for clientele with household water quality
concerns. The schedule of water
clinics for 2013 is available at this link.
The programs
Erin coordinates are linking rural health with water quality information. She
plans to expand the VAMWON program to increase capacity and reach and include
septic systems. Maintaining septic systems and Alternative on-site sewage
systems is really important to health. Household wastewater is loaded with
disease-causing bacteria and viruses, as well as high levels of nitrogen and
phosphorus. If a septic system is well-maintained and working properly, it will
remove most of these pollutants. Insufficiently treated sewage from septic
systems can cause groundwater contamination that can result in contamination of
private water wells which can spread disease and impact household health. Understanding
and maintaining your septic system and well and regularly testing your well
water quality are the best way to protect the quality of your drinking water
and the health of your family.
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