
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 19, 1995                   TAG: 9504190023
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PULASKI                                LENGTH: Medium

EXTENSION PROGRAM TO OFFER WATER TESTING IN PULASKI

Pulaski County residents with private water supplies can get their water tested in the coming weeks through a water quality educational program conducted by Virginia Cooperative Extension.

The program will be explained at two two-hour meetings, starting at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., April 25 in the board room of the Pulaski County Administration Building at 143 Third St. N.W.

Pulaski County Extension Agent Richard White said local groundwater supplies and the effects of drinking water contaminates will be discussed. Testing kits will be available for a fee.

All private water systems in the county are eligible for testing, but owners attending the April 25 meeting will have priority.

White said the county Board of Supervisors and Public Service Authority are joining with Extension in encouraging people to have their water tested.

"I think it is a good program," said Supervisor Ira "Pete" Crawford, who had his water source tested during a similar program last fall. He said the county is funding about half the cost of the testing program.

"All analysis and results will be held strictly confidential," Crawford said. He said actions taken after the sample results come back are up to each water source owner.

Crawford said all New River Valley counties have potential contamination from petroleum products, especially underground storage tanks; landfills, particularly older ones; and septic tank drain fields which are the largest contributors of wastewater to the ground.

Collection dates have been set for May 2 and May 15. Participants will bring water to the county Extension Office to be sent to laboratories for analysis. A lab at Virginia Tech will measure nitrate, chloride, fluoride, sulfate, iron, sodium, copper, manganese, hardness, acidity, the water corrosion index and total dissolved solids. A private lab in Roanoke will check for E. Coli bacteria.

A June meeting will be scheduled to review the findings and explain test results.

In Pulaski County, 33.4 percent of all homes use private water systems at some point during the year. The 1988 Report on Water and Waste Needs in Virginia indicated that half of these systems are inadequately constructed private wells.

by CNB