Arsenic in Iowa’s Groundwater – The Unknown Threat: A Pilot Study in Cerro Gordo County Arsenic Conference November 9, 2011

Overview  Choosing Good Well Candidates  Marketing to Well Owners  Maintaining a Good Relationship with Well Owners  Sampling  Marketing to General Public

Choosing Wells to Participate  Necessary information Depth Depth Well Log Well Log Well Chip Samples Well Chip Samples Casing Depth Casing Depth Termination Aquifer Termination Aquifer  108 Good Well Candidates out of approximately 2800 wells in county

Marketing to Well Owners  Presentation to County Supervisors and City Council members  Television, Radio and Newspaper spots  Letters out to residents that had good well candidates  Phone calls to interested residents  Onsite visits to validate well location and information

Working with Well Owners  Well Owner Project Agreement

Sampling  Began Sampling in July 2011 through June 2014  Two samples per year, one in the dry season (winter) and one in the wet season (summer)

Field Parameters Field Parameters: Water pH Temperature Specific Conductance Dissolved Oxygen Eh (redox potential) (MN) Sulfide Field Parameters: Well Operation Flow Rate Field Parameters: Well Location GPS Coordinates

Laboratory Analysis Total Arsenic Arsenic Speciation (III, V) Iron, Sodium, Manganese, Cadmium, Copper, Zinc Sulfate, Nitrate, Ammonia, Chloride Carbonate, Bicarbonate Calcium, Magnesium Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) Alkalinity Turbidity Hardness

Organizing Data  Receive Laboratory Analysis from SHL  Send results to residents  Place results in database  Send database to U of I to be anylized

Marketing to General Public  Cerro Gordo County Public Health offers arsenic testing to all residents for $20.  The public is unaware of the issue and of the available testing.

Billboard

Postcards

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Questions? Sophia Walsh Environmental Health Specialist I Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health