The Horticulture Committee of Austin County will sponsor a water quality seminar on Thursday, Aug. 21, at the Extension Office in Bellville.
The program will begin with registration at 6 p.m., and the program at 6:30 p.m. and lasting until 8:30 p.m. Aubin Phillips with the Houston-Galveston Area Council will speak about a project dealing with water quality in the San Bernard River Shed. Dr. Mark McFarland, extension agronomist, will also be on hand to discuss a study being conducted on the Mill Creek related to water quality.
As an added bonus, well owners are encouraged to submit water samples from their well for water quality testing. The water well screening program will be conducted from Aug. 1-11. Landowners who wish to participate can pick up testing forms and water sample bottles at the Extension office during regular business hours after Aug. 1.
The screening program will offer two separate water well screenings, an elemental analysis and a bacteriology analysis. The elemental analysis costs $26 per sample, and will provide information on well water conductivity, pH, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, sulfur, chlorine, boron, nitrate, hardness, zinc, iron, copper, manganese, and phosphorus of the water sample.
The analysis will be conducted by the Texas A&M University Soil and Water Testing Laboratory in College Station. The bacteriology analysis costs $25 per sample, and will provide information on the presence or absence of coliform bacteria. The bacteriology water sample must be taken the morning of Monday, Aug. 11; right before it is delivered to the Extension Office between the hours of 8 a.m. and noon.
This analysis will be conducted by Aqua Water Supply Corporation in Bastrop. Important information that will be required includes the water well
