Center Spotlights

Safe drinking water is within reach for the one-fifth of Virginians who rely on private wells or springs

Safe drinking water is within reach for the one-fifth of Virginians who rely on private wells or springs

by Julie Shlisky

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Virginia Cooperative Extension provide affordable water testing kits for households that rely on private wells or springs through the Virginia Household Water Quality Program. The statewide program is organized by Senior Extension Specialist Erin Ling in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering.

One-fifth of Virginians rely on private wells or springs for drinking water. The responsibility of managing each private water source belongs to the person using it — though many lack the knowledge or resources to do so. This can lead to system neglect and unsafe water. While wells are the primary source of drinking water in rural communities, many people in more populated counties also depend on private water supplies.

Ling works closely with a trained network of 120 Extension agents to offer water testing programs in more than 70 Extension offices each year. Tests can detect issues known to impact human health, including bacteria and heavy metals, as well as aesthetic contaminants that cause non-health-related issues like bad taste or odor. Guidance and resources are provided so participants can address specific concerns to improve their water quality.

Starting this month, water testing kits are available at events across the commonwealth for $70, far less than private testing labs charge. Samples are analyzed across two research labs on main campus, and some tests must be completed within 24 hours of collection. At each event, Ling and her team quickly move about 800 chilled water samples from host region to Blacksburg.

“If bacteria are in your water, we want to know about it,” Ling said. “Both time and temperature are constraints for accurate results.”

Since 2009, the program has processed more than 35,000 private water samples. In addition to providing affordable water testing and education, program data informs research on contamination to improve recommendations to well users. Research topics include arsenic, lead, manganese, and bacteria in Virginia well water.

Another metal, strontium, is found naturally in some Virginia groundwater. Along with students and faculty from the Department of Geography, Ling and her team have used water testing data to identify where strontium is found in the environment and overlay this data with census results to identify areas where elevated strontium concentrations in drinking water can pose a risk to vulnerable populations.

Another area of ongoing research focuses on emerging environmental contaminants known as “forever chemicals.”  Professor Leigh-Anne Krometis and her students contact past participants to organize additional sampling campaigns to better understand how these contaminants appear in private water supplies.

The program is popular across the state. Loudoun County Unit Coordinator Stuart Vermaak said their events consistently fill up.

“The kits sell out every time we host, which happens twice a year,” he said. “Around 350 people go through the program each year and half are brand new to Extension.”

Vermaak has led the program in Loudoun since 2018. To handle demand, his office now uses a drive-through drop-off system.

“People can pass their sample through the window,” he said. “I’m in the parking lot putting 200 samples into a cooler over a three-hour period. Those logistics better work well.”

Water quality also affects pesticide performance. Ling works with a team developing a Spray Water Assessment Program to provide testing and guidance for growers of specialty crops, with plans to support more agricultural producers in the future.

The program includes a youth education component that reaches hundreds of kids annually. With collaborators Philip Brown and Leigh-Anne Krometis and recent support from the Virginia Environmental Endowment (VEE), high school students in six Southwest Virginia counties bring water samples from their home wells to campus. The students participate in testing, and their families receive results for free.

This work connects research funded by the VEE and the National Institutes of Health, which study whether water coping strategies such as filters can reduce contaminant exposure. This study provides nearly 500 households in Southwest Virginia and northeast Tennessee with countertop water filters and tracks illness and water quality. 

Vermaak says that the event gives residents a wonderful introduction to Extension programming.

“The well water testing event is a gateway to Extension services,” he said. “People come for water testing and discover nutrition and financial literacy programming. Our office administrative manager found out about the position from the newsletter after doing a well water test.”

For water testing needed for property sales and specialized contaminant testing, a private lab is recommended. Partners key to VAHWQP’s efforts include the Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project (SERCAP), Virginia Department of Health, Virginia Water Well Association, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and the U.S. Geological Survey.

To learn more about this story, contact Julie Shlisky at juliesb@vt.edu.