The Water Systems Council (WSC) has published a new Well Owner’s Manual that is now available for free to well owners across the U.S.

The council received a grant in 2015 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide technical assistance, training and educational programs to owners of private and small community water wells.  A portion of the grant was used to produce the new manual.

"WSC is committed to ensuring that Americans who depend on water wells have safe, reliable drinking water," says Margaret Martens, WSC executive director. "The EPA grant has enabled us to expand our efforts to educate well owners, consumers and policymakers about water wells and the importance of protecting America's groundwater resources."

The 32-page guide includes sections on water well systems, well maintenance, selecting a well contractor, protecting wellheads, water well testing, and understanding water well test results. It also includes a well owner's checklist and information on the wellcare Hotline, a free hotline that provides advice on protecting, maintaining, testing and conserving drinking well water supplies, at 888-395-1033 or online at www.wellcarehotline.org.

In addition, each manual comes with a free membership offer for the wellcare Well Owners Network, which provides members with quarterly newsletters featuring tips and tools on caring for well systems, septic systems and well water, as well as discounts on water test kits.  Launched in 2009, the wellcare Well Owners Network has more than 10,000 members nationwide.

Copies of the Well Owner's Manual are being distributed by WSC as well as each of the six RCAP (Rural Community Assistance Partnership) regional offices. The offices can be found on the RCAP website at www.rcap.org/regions.

Well owners can order a free hard copy of the Well Owner's Manual by sending an email to cgreenstreet@watersystemscouncil.org or download a PDF of the manual from the WSC website.

The Water Systems Council works to protect groundwater and to ensure private well users in the United States have safe, reliable drinking water. For more information, visit www.watersystemscouncil.org.