Community-Based Well Testing and Outreach to Mitigate Human Health Risk from Unsafe Drinking Water

Authors

• W. Adam Sigler, Montana State University, Bozeman Montana, United StatesFollow
• Katharine Sutphen, Montana State University, Bozeman Montana, United StatesFollow
• Margaret J Eggers, Montana State University, Bozeman Montana, United StatesFollow
• Kaleena Miller, Montana State University Extension, Whitehall MontanaFollow
• Michelle Grocke-Dewey, Montana State University, Bozeman Montana, United StatesFollow

Volume

64

Issue

2

Abstract

Twenty-two percent of groundwater wells tested nationwide have one or more contaminants above a health threshold, yet many private well owners are unaware of these risks because they have not tested their water. Researchers piloted a community well testing clinic for education/outreach and surveyed participants about outcomes. Two months later, 75% of participants with high or intermediate health risk water quality results had taken action or intended to, indicating that community private well testing clinics can be effective in mitigating human health risks from contaminated drinking water.

Authors’ Contribution Statement

WAS, MJE, and MGD wrote the proposals that funded the work. WAS planned and coordinated the program with co-leadership from MJE and MGD. KM led county level community engagement and reviewed the manuscript. MGD and WAS designed and implemented the participant survey with contributions from MJE. KS analyzed survey data and drafted the original version of the manuscript under the mentorship of MGD. KS, MGD, MJE, and KS contributed to data interpretation, critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content, and all authors approved the final version for publication.

Data Availability

The data are not publicly available due to privacy/ethical restrictions, as they contain information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Sigler, W., Sutphen, K., Eggers, M., Miller, K., & Grocke-Dewey, M. (2026). Community-Based Well Testing and Outreach to Mitigate Human Health Risk from Unsafe Drinking Water. Journal of Extension, 64(2), Article 21. https://doi.org/10.66752/1077-5315.5789