March 22, 2001

Spring Time to Protect Drinking Water Quality at Rural Homes and Farmsteads

Take time now to evaluate your well to head off potential contamination associated with water from melting snow and spring rains, urges a North Dakota State University water quality specialist.

"During this time of the year on the northern plains snow is melting and the ground is still frozen so wells can easily become contaminated with surface water and the potential pollutants associated with it," says John Nowatzki of the NDSU Extension Service.

Evaluate the condition of the well itself, household wastewater treatment practices and procedures for handling of hazardous waste material, farm chemicals, petroleum products and livestock waste materials at farmsteads, Nowatzki says.

He has prepared a Farmstead Assessment Web site, http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/abeng/farmstead.html , to help rural residents evaluate potential problems associated with their private drinking water supplies. Nowatzki has also produced a videotape outlining the Farmstead Assessment program. The tape and all NDSU Farmstead Assessment publications are available from county extension offices in North Dakota.

The Web page’s focus is on an interactive Farmstead Assessment Checklist that includes 40 questions to provide a basic evaluation of wells located at farmsteads and rural residences. Users can check boxes on the Web site checklist indicating whether or not the factor addressed in each step of the checklist applies to their well. Each question is linked to other Farmstead Assessment publications that suggest solutions to potential problems identified in the checklist.

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Source: John Nowatzki, (701) 231-8213, jnowatzk@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu