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Who should consider being a Master Well Owner and why volunteer?

Anyone that is interested in learning more about proper location, construction, and maintenance of water wells and is interested in educating others about these topics. Ideal candidates will have their own private water well, spring or cistern.

Apply to the Pennsylvania Master Well Owner Network

Apply to the Delmarva Master Well Owner Network

Why Volunteer?
Each of the 240 selected volunteers will be trained during one of eight regional workshops. These workshops will be held in each of the eight Cooperative Extension regions (see map below). These one-day workshops will be offered over the next two years. Each volunteer will receive the following at the workshop:

• A free sanitary well cap for installation on their home well.
• A free water analysis of their home water supply for coliform bacteria, pH, total dissolved solids, nitrate-nitrogen and hardness. Each volunteer will test his or her home water supply for these parameters during the workshop.
• An invitation to the annual Summer Field Conference sponsored by Pennsylvania Groundwater Association. This conference will serve as further professional development for the trained volunteers.
• A private water system handbook with background materials and educational resources.
• A quarterly newsletter with news and information on groundwater, water supply management and other important issues.
• Access to tabletop displays, fact sheets, presentations, and other resources to assist with public education about proper water supply management.
• Free attendance at a statewide conference of Master Well Owners during Fall 2005 in State College, PA.

 

Expectations for the Master Well Owner Program

 Anyone that would like to be a Master Well Owner must do the following:

1. Attend a local one-day training workshop (on a Saturday).
   
2. After training, each Master Well Owner must provide general education about management of private water systems to at least 100 people over a two year period of time. Several methods of accomplishing this task will be outlined at the training workshop.
   
3. Each Master Well Owner must submit a simple one-page summary annually to the Master Well Owner Project Coordinator, Stephanie Odenwald. This summary should detail the type of education and outreach activity that each Master Well Owner has participated in throughout the year. A general form to assist in this process will be available on the Master Well Owner website after April of 2004.