The Washington County Environmental Department is encouraging people with private wells to take advantage of their free water tests. Jennine Wolf is the Director of Environmental Health in Washington County and estimates there are between 2,500 and 3,000 private wells inside the county lines.

Wolf recommends testing well water on a yearly basis and says her organization is able to conduct free water tests on the wells through money from the Grants to Counties Program. The program was established in 1987 when the legislature passed the Iowa Groundwater Protection Act to help prevent further contamination of the state’s groundwater resources. Wolf says her office has set aside Wednesdays for water testing.

For more information or to schedule a private well water test, people are asked to call the Washington County Environmental Services Office at 319-653-7782.