BATESVILLE, Miss. -- Private well owners in seven Delta counties can get water samples pH tested and screened for bacteria and lead at an educational workshop in Batesville. 

The Mississippi State University Extension Service is cohosting a free well-owner workshop at the Extension office in Panola County Oct. 10 from 6 to 8 p.m. 

Residents of Panola, Tallahatchie, Sunflower, Bolivar, Leflore, Quitman and Coahoma counties can get their private well water screened for free. The workshop is open to all well owners. Attendance is not required to participate in the water testing.  

The workshop will address water quality and cover well management, operation and protection. 

Well owners can pick up water sampling kits and instructions Oct. 2-6 and Oct. 9 at the MSU Extension Office in Panola County or in one of the other six participating counties by request. 

They must take samples no more than 24 hours before dropping them off at the Extension office in Panola County Oct. 10 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Participants will receive results in the mail, along with a publication that explains how to interpret them. 

This is a project of the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, Center for Population Studies, National Sea Grant Law Center and Mississippi Well Owner Network. Grants from the Mississippi Water Resources Research Institute and U.S. Geological Survey fund the workshop and water sample testing.