Extension Private Water Supply Education and Water Testing in 2025

Program Overview and Structure

For the fifth consecutive year, Penn State Extension provided educational programs and accredited laboratory water testing to private water supply owners across Pennsylvania in a combination of county-based and statewide workshops and webinars (Figure 1).

Funding for this program was made available from the Pennsylvania Department of Health cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Environmental Health Capacity building initiative (Grant #1NUE1EH001414-01-00).

Five webinars were offered to a statewide audience, and eight in-person workshops were provided in Beaver, Centre, Clarion, Cumberland, Indiana, McKean, Mercer, and Northampton Counties from November 2024 through July 2025. After attending a webinar or workshop, participants received a free water test from the Penn State Agricultural Analytical Services Laboratory for bacteria, nitrate, manganese, lead, copper, arsenic, sodium, and barium. Initial programs discussed water testing, water system inspection and maintenance, and water treatment options to address water quality issues. Participants were also emailed a recorded presentation to help them interpret their water test results at their convenience, and were encouraged to contact a Water Resources Extension Educator if they had additional questions. For participants without internet access, phone-in options were available.

Initial Program Impacts and Water Test Results

In event surveys, 58% of program participants indicated that they were primarily concerned with whether their water was safe to drink, 24% were concerned about nearby land uses affecting their water supply, and 18% were concerned with aesthetic issues affecting their water (N=217). The majority of program participants had not regularly tested their water supply: 26% reported testing it only once in the past, and 28% reported never testing it (N=216). After participating in a workshop or webinar, 98% of attendees reported learning something new, with 44% indicating that they learned a great deal of new information (N=242).

This project tested 220 private water supplies within Pennsylvania.  Program participants were asked to complete a survey at each event.  There were 171 health-based failures and 161 aesthetic failures across all water samples.  The following table shows the percentage of water supplies that failed for each parameter that was tested as part of this project:

*Sodium does not have a drinking water standard in Pennsylvania. Levels above 20 mg/L were considered "failing" because this is the concentration that could be a concern to those on low-sodium diets (Swistock & Clark, 2023).  Participants determined their sampling location based on what they wanted to learn about their water, so results may include samples treated with a water softener.

Project Evaluation and Follow-Up

A follow-up evaluation was emailed to all households twelve weeks after participating in an event to determine what actions had been taken to improve the management of their water supply.  Of these households, 58 responses were received, and 46% indicated that water testing revealed a water quality concern. When asked if they had taken any action after attending a webinar, 75% selected "yes" (n=41). In addition to water testing, other actions participants took included talking to others about what they had learned (55%), visiting the Extension website to learn more (42%), learning about a health-related problem with their drinking water that they weren't previously aware of (29%), shock chlorinating their well (21%), improving their water system construction (16%), installing water treatment for their home drinking water (11%), obtaining a copy of their well completion report (11%), establishing a 100 ft. water supply protection area (3%). Additionally, 90% (n=47) of participants indicated that they were able to save money by participating in this program by having their water tested, improving their water supply construction to avoid installing continuous treatment, learning about appropriate water tests to reduce water testing costs, learning about water treatment to avoid unneeded treatment systems, or installing water-saving appliances. 

Penn State Extension anticipates that this program will renew in 2026 and will continue to offer educational programs and water testing to residents who utilize private water supplies.  To receive notifications of when water-related programs are offered in your county, sign up to receive emails and select "Drinking and Residential Water" as one of your areas of interest.