Penn State Launches Water-Testing Program for Pennsylvania Residents

To help ensure an abundant supply of safe water for people, crops, and livestock, Penn State has launched a water-testing program, which will be administered by the College of Agricultural Sciences’ Agricultural Analytical Services Laboratory.

“About 3.5 million rural Pennsylvanians rely on more than one million private wells for their drinking water, and about 20,000 new wells are drilled each year,” says Bryan Swistock, water resources senior extension associate. “We hope by encouraging people to get their water tested, we can help them to improve their water quality and to safeguard their health.

Swistock points out that private water supplies in Pennsylvania are not regulated by the state or federal government, and well owners are responsible for maintaining the quality of their own water. “However, about half of the state's wells that have been tested fail to meet at least one drinkingwater standard,” he says.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established primary and secondary drinking-water standards. Primary standards apply to contaminants—such as coliform bacteria, nitrate, and lead—that cause health problems. Secondary standards address iron, manganese, chloride, and other pollutants that cause aesthetic problems, such as stains, odors, or off-tastes. Penn State's program will provide well owners with reports detailing how their watertest results compare to these EPA standards.

Similar testing will be done for water used for livestock consumption. “When dairy and livestock producers are trying to diagnose performance problems with their animals, water is one nutrient that often is overlooked,” says Virginia Ishler, nutrient-management specialist in dairy and animal science.