January 2017
Dear: Well Owner
Recently, the West Central Public Health Partnership received a 5 year grant from the Centers of Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide private well owners with a FREE well water test. The purpose of
the well-water testing program is to promote and protect the health and safety of private well water
users in the West Central Region of Colorado. The Delta County Health Department is coordinating this
project in cooperation with the public health departments in Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose, San Miguel
and Ouray counties. All private well owners in the 6 county Region 10 are urged to partner with their
local health departments for a FREE well water test.
This is how the project will work. Homeowners whose primary source of drinking water is a private well
and who volunteer for the free water testing sample are welcome to apply for a FREE well or spring
water test. A sampling kit with instructions for sampling will be sent to you to collect the water sample.
You will then send the sample to the National Testing Laboratories, LTD for water analysis. The sample
will be tested for the following parameters: bacteria (Total Coliform and E. Coli), 22 heavy metals and
minerals (including lead, arsenic, and mercury), 7 inorganic chemicals (including nitrates and chloride), 5
physical factors (including pH, alkalinity, and hardness), 47 volatile organic chemicals (including MTBE,
PCE, PCE) and 20 pesticides, herbicides and PCBs (including Dieldrin, Atrazine, Heptachlor).
For this project to succeed, we need your cooperation for sampling your well water (the kit will be
provided and mailing is free). You will be sent a copy of the sample results from your well. If concerns
are noted, information will be available to eliminate or minimize hazards associated with your water.
We’ll also need your permission to receive a copy of your test results and to be able to use the sample
results for analysis and publication. Personal identifiers and the exact location of the well samples will
be removed from any public report of the water sample results. Contact the Delta County Health
Department for more information: Phone - 970-874-2165, fax - 970-874-2175 or email -
knordstrom@deltacounty.com
Please complete, sign and return the following page if you are interested in participating. Upon receipt
of this participation agreement, the Delta County Health Department will send you a test kit with
instructions.
Kenneth Nordstrom, Environmental Health Director
Delta County Health Department
255 W. 6
th
Street
Delta, CO 81416
Phone: 970-874-2165
Fax: 970-874-2175
Email: knordstrom@deltacounty.com
Please complete as much information as you can.