Kansas private well owners should test water quality annually, according to a recent Kansas State University study that revealed nitrate levels in shallow wells above U.S. Environment Protection Act standards.
Kansas private well owners should test water quality annually, according to a recent Kansas State University study that revealed nitrate levels in shallow wells above U.S. Environment Protection Act standards.
"The changes we measured in the Great Bend Prairie Aquifer appear to be large relative to changes observed in a national study by the U.S. Geological Survey," said Matthew Kirk, Kansas State University associate professor of geology and the study's principal investigator.
The Great Bend Prairie Aquifer, a part of High Plains Aquifer, was the focus of a 40-year comparison study of rural water wells recently published in the Hydrogeology Journal. Kirk and Alexandria "Allie" Richard Lane, Kansas State University 2018 master's degree graduate in geology, published the study along with Donald Whittemore, Kansas Geological Survey; Randy Stotler, University of Kansas Department of Geology; and John Hildebrand and Orrin Feril, both with Big Bend Groundwater Management District No. 5.
"The Great Bend Prairie Aquifer is very vulnerable to contamination and if rural well owners don't know there is a problem, they obviously can't do anything about it," Kirk said. "Municipalities are required to test and provide safe drinking water for city residents but private rural well owners should take responsibility to test their wells at least every year."
Read more at Kansas State University
Photo: Kansas State University master's in geology graduate Allie Richard Lane samples water from wells as part of a 40-year comparison study of wells in the Great Bend Prairie Aquifer. The study has revealed water quality issues. CREDIT: Kansas State University
