The Virginia Master Well Owner Network and Household Water Quality Program Enhancing Outreach and Building Capacity with a Focus on Human Health

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The Virginia Master Well Owner Network and
Household Water Quality ProgramEnhancing
Outreach and Building Capacity with a Focus on
Human Health

Erin Ling1 Brian Benham1 Leigh-Anne Krometis1 Peter Ziegler2 Virginia Tech 1Biological Systems Engineering 2College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
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Todays Presentation

• Program Overview
• Virginia Household Water Quality Program (VAHWQP)
• Virginia Master Well Owner Network (VAMWON)
• Program impacts and lessons learned
• Future direction and opportunities

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Private Water Supplies in Virginia

• Majority of households in 60 of Virginias 95
  counties rely on private water supply systems
  about 1.7 million people (USGS, 2010)
• In 52 counties, the number of households using
  private wells is increasing faster than the
  number connecting to public systems (VA Dept of
  Env Quality, 2009)
• Homeowners relying on private water supplies
• Are responsible for all aspects of water system
  management
• Often lack knowledge and resources to effectively
  manage
• Usually dont worry about maintenance until
  problems arise

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What is the VAHWQP?

• Established in 1989
• County-based Drinking Water Clinics
• Coordinated with trained local extension
  educators or volunteers
• Kickoff Meeting distribute sample kits
• Homeowners collect sample samples analyzed at VT
  BSE lab
• Interpretation Meeting test results,
  interpretation and basic information about
  maintenance and addressing problems
• 15,000 wells analyzed in 87 counties

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Drinking water clinics

• Testing for
• Total coliform (present/absent)
• E. coli
• Nitrate
• Fluoride
• Sodium

• Manganese
• Copper
• pH
• Total Dissolved Solids
• Sulfate
• Hardness

• Arsenic
• Lead
• Quantification of bacteria

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VAHWQP Drinking Water Clinics
YEAR of LAST CLINIC 2008-2012 2003-2007 1996-2002
1989-1995 No clinic held
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VAHWQP Revitalization and Expansion

• 2003 budget cuts limited program activity
• Mid-Atlantic Regional Water Quality Project
• Funded by USDA-NIFA (CSREES) to promote regional
  coordination to address water quality issues.
• Modeled on PA Master Well Owner Network
  (initiated 2004)
• 500 trained volunteers with gt25,000 educational
  contacts
• Extension Education grant awarded from
  USDA-NIFA (CSREES) National Water Program
  (2007-2011)
• USDA-Rural Health and Safety Education Grant
  (2012)
• Targeted clinics in three Virginia regions
  (Northern Neck, Southside, Southwest
• Add analysis for lead, arsenic, and
  quantification of bacteria
• Additional demographic and self-reported illness
  questions

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VAHWQP Supporting Resources

• Revision and creation of new Virginia Cooperative
  Extension water quality publications
• Website www.wellwater.bse.vt.edu
• Impact reporting
• Evaluation reports
• Brochures
• Newsletter
• Listserv

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Virginia Master Well Owner Network (VAMWON)

• Currently includes extension agents and volunteers

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VAMWON Volunteer Policy

• Qualifications
• Attend VAMWON training and achieve 80 on
  post-test
• Agree to a goal of making 100 educational
  contacts annually
• Communicate effectively and diplomatically
• Not work or own a business affiliated with
  private water systems
• Option to recertify after two years
• Guidelines
• Unpaid, volunteer work only
• Provide general educational information
• Do not give professional advice or make specific
  recommendations
• Refer specific questions to qualified professional

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VAMWON Responsibilities

• VAMWON Agents
• Conduct county-based drinking water clinics
• Educate local private water system owners
• VAMWON Volunteers
• Assist VAMWON agents with drinking water clinics
• Outreach to church, service, and civic
  organizations
• Staff VAMWON booth at fairs, clinics, ag and
  home shows
• Maintain water system as a good practices
  demonstration site
• Contribute to VAHWQP newsletter and website
• Assist with evaluating program impacts

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Frederick
Clarke
Loudoun
Arlington
Warren
Shenandoah
Fairfax
Rappa hannock
Trained VAMWON agent in county
Fauquier
Prince William
Page
Rockingham
Culpeper
Madison
Stafford
Highland
King George
Greene
Orange
Spotsylvania
Augusta
Westmoreland
Albemarle
Bath
Caroline
Louisa
Trained VAMWON agent after Sept 2012
North- umberland
Richmond
Essex
Fluvanna
Rockbridge
Accomack
Nelson
Alleghany
Hanover
Goochland
King and Queen
King William
Cumberland
Buckingham
Lancaster
Amherst
Botetourt
Middlesex
Powhatan
Henrico
Richmond
New Kent
Craig
Charles City
Chesterfield
Gloucester
Northampton
Appomattox
Mathews
Amelia
Bedford
Giles
Roanoke
Prince George
Prince Edward
Buchanan
James City
York
Campbell
Montgomery
Bland
Surry
Dickenson
Tazewell
Nottoway
Dinwiddie
Pulaski
Charlotte
Isle of Wight
Norfolk (city)
Wise
Franklin
Sussex
Russell
Lunenburg
Floyd
Wythe
Smyth
Pittsylvania
South Hampton
Halifax
Carroll
Brunswick
Henry
Scott
Washington
Suffolk (city)
Lee
Greensville
Mecklenburg
Grayson
Patrick
Revised 6/11
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Strengthening VAHWQP through VAMWON

• Agents conduct county-based
• drinking water clinics
• Agents better informed to address
• water quality concerns

Sustaining relationships building capacity to
improve water quality
Virginia Master Well Owner VCE Agents

Private Water System Users

• Develop relationships through
• collaborative education and
• outreach
• Continuing VAMWON training
• opportunities
• Share innovative education
• delivery methods

Virginia Master Well Owner Volunteers

• Community-based outreach
• Peer-to-peer education

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VAMWON and VAHWQP Impacts

• 45 VAMWON agents and 75 volunteers trained
  representing 57 counties and 4 cities in Virginia
• 5000 educational contacts and growing!
• AND 18 VAMWON agency collaborators at Dept of
  Environmental Quality and Dept of Health
• 43 drinking water clinics in 47 counties since
  2008 (2550 samples est 5900 people using these
  supplies)
• 74 will test water annually or every few years
• 80 plan to share what they have learned with
  others
• 28 will seek additional testing following clinic
• 26 will work to determine source of pollution
• 23 will shock chlorinate water system
• 18 will pump out septic system

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Building Relationships and Capacity in Virginia

• Well drillers association
• Water treatment experts
• State and Federal agencies
• Organizations working with underserved groups
• Other sources of support

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What IS in your water?1989-2011

• Retrospective Analysis of Water Sample Data

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Motivation

• 2010 report by the US Centers for Disease Control
  (CDC) states that while the overall number of
  waterborne disease outbreaks has decreased since
  the advent of the Safe Drinking Water Act, there
  has been a relative increase in outbreaks
  associated with private systems.
• Privately supplied systems particularly those
  fed by groundwater are of increased concern.
• Information on private system water quality
  needed as few published datasets exist.

Number of outbreaks associated with drinking
water by water system type and year Craun, G.
F., J. M. Brunkard, et al. 2010. Causes of
outbreaks associated with drinking water in the
United States from 1971 to 2006. Clinical
Microbiology Reviews 23(3) 507528.
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What system types do we reach?
System Type Number (1989-2011)
Well - Drilled Bored/Dug Unknown Total 6,966 1,512 1,092 9,570
Spring 806
Cistern 45
Unknown system type 4,114
TOTAL 14,535
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Overview What types of systems do we reach?
Types of treatment acid neutralizer, carbon
filter, chlorinator, iron filter, sediment
filter, water softener, other
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Contaminants of potential concern
Note As compared to USEPAs recommended
standards for municipal systems.
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Variation across regions

• E. coli -positive samples most common in Ridge
  and Valley

• High sodium most common in Coastal Plain and
  Appalachian Plateau

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Do homeowners perceive potential health problems?

• Short answer NO.

For E. coli-positive samples (n1465)
Prompt My water YES NO
has an objectionable odor. 8 69
has an unpleasant taste. 12 68
has an unnatural color. 13 68
contains suspended particles. 16 65
stains fixtures or laundry. 34 47
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New effortUSDA Rural Health and Safety
Education Grant

• Objectives
• Reach underserved communities (subsidize
  analyses 50 ? 5!)
• Identify potential links between private water
  supplies and human health
• Partner with Southeast Rural Community Assistance
  Program
• Follow-up with 500 past participants to determine
  program impacts (behavior change) and potential
  barriers to action

• Add demographic and illness questions to
  homeowner survey
• Targeted clinics in rural VA counties

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Additional water quality targets (2012-now!)

• Quantify coliforms and E. coli
• Concentrations gt2081 MN/100 mL (max detection
  limit)
• Detection of optical brighteners (source
  tracking)
• Eight samples positive (n134)
• Metals analyses (lead and arsenic)
• 10 (13 samples, n134) greater than 15 ppb in
  the first flush sample
• 6 samples greater than 50 ppb
• No detectable arsenic

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Questions?