SERCAP offers free training for private well owners

Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project will be holding a series of free training webinars for owners and users of private wells in Delaware. Co-sponsored by the Delaware Department of Public Health.

“Well owners and users don’t always realize that their drinking water may be contaminated with things you can’t see, taste or smell. Just because it tastes good, doesn’t necessarily make it safe,” said Jean Holloway, SERCAP state manager. The webinars will showcase some of the most common groundwater and drinking water contamination sources in lower Delaware, and give pointers on how to prevent contamination and protect the drinking water from being ruined. 

The same workshops were held in various locations throughout Kent and Sussex counties in 2019 but have been converted to virtual webinars due to the COVID-19 outbreak and need for social distancing. “We hope that offering these workshops in the virtual world will encourage people to participate and increase attendance, since they don’t have to travel farther than their own living room,” Holloway said.

SERCAP will also be offering free well test kits upon request, in addition to distributing them at various community events throughout the year. SERCAP has outlined simple instructions for collecting the water samples, but will also collect samples on appointment for homeowners who are unable to do it themselves. 

In addition to the technical information, SERCAP has various free reference materials available on request, as well as information on financial assistance for qualified homeowners who need to replace their wells. SERCAP’s Private Well Loan program offers up to $11,000 at 1 percent interest for up to 10 years to replace residential wells. “All in all, this is a good opportunity for private well users to learn what can happen and how to prevent it, and prolong the life of their most valuable asset - drinking water,” said Holloway. 

 Founded in 1974, SERCAP is in its 51st year of providing training and technical assistance to rural communities and rural residents. SERCAP is a nonprofit serving seven states from Delaware to Florida. SERCAP is a member of the Rural Community Assistance Partnership. The local SERCAP office, located in Frankford, has a staff of three and serves all of Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland. These virtual well workshops are confined to Delaware because they have been funded by the Delaware Department of Public Health, but residents in other states can access the training by contacting the SERCAP office directly.

Interested well owners and users can register for any of the upcoming webinars by clicking on the link below, or by calling the Frankford office.  

Private Well Workshop - Delaware occurs several times. For more information, go to sercap.org.

This virtual one-hour workshop will outline the most common problems found in private wells in our Delaware area and how to protect against them. The workshop is six separate offerings; after registering a confirmation email containing information about joining the training will be sent.