Mi Well Michigan Private Drinking Water Well Program

Mi. Well Michigan Private Drinking Water Well Program A look at private well owners’ journey through a water sample

PROGRAM BACKGROUND 5 year grant through the Safe WATCH program awarded by the CDC, National Center for Environmental Health September 30, 2015 -September 29, 2020 Project purpose: Improve the effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of state and local private drinking water programs

MICHIGAN PRIVATE WELL STATISTICS Michigan has more household wells drilled annually than any other state (NGWA) Michigan has 1. 25 million private household wells (MDEQ) 2. 6 million Michigan citizens are served by private wells (NGWA & USGS)

WATER TESTING & WELL OWNER SURVEY PROJECT Purpose: Gather information about well owner knowledge and behaviors Evaluate well owners personal experience with water testing through the MDEQ Drinking Water Laboratory Was it difficult to collect water samples? Did they understand their test results?

METHODS Recruitment Water Testing Follow. Up

STEP Recruit Michigan private drinking water well users 1 through the Michigan Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (MIBRFS) What is the MIBRFS? Annual telephone survey of Michigan residents aged 18+ Only source of state-specific, population-based estimates of the prevalence of various behaviors, medical conditions, and preventive health care practices among Michigan adults 9, 000 - 10, 000 residents are interviewed

STEP Recruit Michigan private drinking water well users through the Michigan Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (MIBRFS) 1 3 private well related questions were added to the 2017 Mi. BRFS: 1. At your primary residence, does your drinking water come from a private well? 2. When did you last test the quality of the water that comes from your well? 3. Asking private well users if they would like to be added to a list for a free well water test and to complete a follow-up questionnaire (if interested the individual provided their first name, phone number and zip code to be added to the list) Last question allows us to use BRFS to recruit a population-based representative sample of MI well owners

STEP MDHHS Mi. Well Team contacts 2 recruited well owners 909 well owners were recruited through Mi. BRFS Randomly selected samples from this list to begin making phone calls The Mi. Well team developed a script to follow for making calls If well owner agrees we collect their full name and address and they are sent a well testing kit

BRFSS and (potential) Mi. Well Participants

SURVEY PROCESS

STEP 3 Water testing through the Michigan Department of Environmental (DEQ) drinking water analysis laboratory Willing participants sent a water sampling kit with detailed water sampling collection instructions An electronic copy of participants test results are sent to the Mi. Well team and the hard copy is mailed to the well owner Once test results are received, Mi. Well team members call the participant to discuss water results and complete the follow-up survey

MDEQ DRINKING WATER LABORATORY SAMPLE COLLECTION INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 4 Participants complete follow-up questionnaire Evaluate well owners personal experience with water testing through the MDEQ DW Laboratory Gather information about well owner knowledge and behaviors Purpose Water and Well History Additional water related questions Experienc e: state lab, local health Water testing and results Questionnaire

STEP 5 Additional information and follow-up with well owners The Mi. Well team offers to mail or email additional factsheets/information to well owners The Mi. Well team helps to interpret water test results MDHHS toxicologists are available to further discuss test results and help well owners reduce their exposure

DATA TIME

Preliminary Follow-Up Results

Well and Water Knowledge

What effects the quality of your water?

98. 5% know the location of their well 1/4 Nearly do not treat their well water 89. 4 like the taste of their well water % 24 years Mean time on property

2 3 believe their results to be satisfactory 76 % Rated sampling instructio ns as 1 or 2 40% did not understan d their well results*

What made the results difficult to understand? How can reporting results be improved?

Did you take any actions to improve your water quality? 26. 70% Don’t know Unaware of actions 13. 30% 23. 30% No Yes 0. 00% 36. 70% 5. 00% 10. 00% 15. 00% 20. 00% 25. 00% 30. 00% 35. 00% 40. 00%

New Hampshire Drinking Water Results Summary

Suggestions for increasing private well testing 18. 2 % know how often their water should be tested “Township newsletter or newspaper” “Would have to (be something that) comes from the health department” “If want to get tested, test privately; don’t want to put neck out” “There is a cost barrier for many people” “No” “Need (a) reminder or letter for that little push; people tend to become complacent” “Maybe making them aware and that it is available”

Water Results

Analyte Exceedances Percent of Analytes Exceeding the MCL/ACL 90 82. 05 80 70 64. 47 60 50 50 40 28. 21 30 18. 06 20 10 0 17. 81 14. 1 8. 97 5. 33 3. 85 0 Arsenic Chloride Coliform Copper Corosion 1. 28 Flouride 1. 28 Hardness Iron Lead Corrosion 2. 56 Nitrate 0 Nitrite 0 Sodium Sulfate Overall Health Regulated

§ Written report summarizing participant responses – share with state/local private DW programs Final Goal § MDHHS will make recommendations to improve effectiveness, accessibility and quality of DW program testing, results evaluation and communications to the well owner § Use findings to help guide well owner outreach and education § Potential to use Mi. BRFSS data for analysis § Example - compare Michigan residents on well water versus those not on well water and prevalence of a given health condition broken down by demographic information

WELL OWNER OUTREACH & EDUCATION Through well owner surveys we see the need for well owner education, specifically in the following areas: § Water testing (what, where, and why) § Well maintenance and treatment options § Who to call with questions § Information about specific analytes

WELL OWNER OUTREACH & EDUCATION The Mi. Well program developed a communications plan and outreach strategy First activity – conduct a local health department stakeholder engagement survey (Survey Monkey) Distributed to Michigan’s 45 local health departments targeting EH directors and staff 64 individuals were provided with the survey 31 (48%) completed the survey representing 25 out of 45 health departments.

How often does your health department receive well-related questions? Daily 16 More Than Once a Week 1 1 0 10 3 More Than Once a Month 0 Every Few Months 0 Unsure 2 4 6 8 10 Counts 12 14 16 18

8% 9% 42% Testing and Treatment Contamination Groundwater Protection 41% What types of questions are most commonly asked?

What would you want in a toolkit?

Questions? Thank you! Mi. Well Team Contacts Kaitlyn Kiessling Yonathan Kefelegn Private Drinking Water Project Manager. Environmental Epidemiologist kiesslingk 3@michigan. gov Kefelegn. Y@michigan. gov 517 -284 -4805 517 -284 -4829