The Texas Well Owner Network, TWON, will host a private water well screening in Wimberley on March 4, with a results meeting and discussion on March 5.
The cost of the screening is $15 per sample, and residents may submit as many samples as they would like. Water samples will be screened for contaminants, including total coliform bacteria, E. coli, nitrate-nitrogen and salinity.
The TWON program serves residents who depend on household wells for their water needs, said Joel Pigg, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service program specialist and TWON coordinator, Texas A&M Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Bryan-College Station.
“The TWON 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,” Pigg said. “It allows them to learn more about how to improve and protect their community water resources.”
Water sampling and meeting information Water samples can be dropped off from 8:3010:30 a.m on March 4 in Wimberley at: AgriLife Extension office for Hays County, 200 Stillwater Road, Wimberley, 8:30-10:30 a.m.
Other Central Texas locations open for the March 4 water drop-off include: Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, 1124 Regal Row, Austin, from 8:3011:30 a.m.
Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District, 14101 Texas Highway 290 W., Building 100, Suite 212, Austin, from 8:30-10:30 a.m.
Southwestern Travis County Groundwater Conservation District, 8656 W. Texas Highway 71, Building A, Suite 224, Austin, from 8:3010:30 a.m.
The results and interpretation meeting will be held March 5 from 11 a.m. to noon at the Wimberley Village Library, 400 Farm-to-Market Road 2325.
Sampling instructions Attendees are asked to follow the water sample instructions available on the TWON homepage at twon.tamu.edu.
Pigg said it is essential for those submitting samples to attend the followup meeting to receive results, learn corrective measures for identified problems and improve their understanding of private well management.
For more information on the screenings, contact Pigg at 979-3215946 or jpigg@ tamu.edu.
The screenings are presented by AgriLife Extension and Texas Water Resources Institute, TWRI.
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.
