Private well owners should test water quality annually, according to a recent study that revealed nitrate levels in shallow wells above US 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.»

According to Lane, who now works for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, there are many kits that can be purchased online for under $40 that test for bacteria, pesticides, lead, copper, iron, nitrate and water hardness in water wells.

«Those kits are good to use for basic readings and if anything is concerning, then residents can send a sample to a lab for further testing,» Lane said. «At KDHE, we try to inform private water well communities that it’s important to test their wells annually.»

Kirk and Lane’s 2016 study measured water chemistries and compared them with 1970s measurements at the same sites. Twenty of 21 wells had increases of nitrate concentrations, or NO3-, compared to the 1970s samples. Seven wells exceeded the nitrate concentrations allowed by the EPA standard for drinking water. In the 1970s study, only one of the wells was above the current EPA standard.

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Materials provided by Kansas State University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.