STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi homeowners with private wells have two opportunities to learn how to enhance the quality of their drinking water sources.

The Mississippi Well Owner Network, a program of the Mississippi State University Extension Service, will hold workshops at the Extension offices in Perry County July 15 and at the East Central Community Center in Jackson County July 29. Each workshop begins at 6 p.m.

Well owners can receive onsite technical assistance on these dates from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. by calling their local MSU Extension agent and getting their names and addresses added to the list of residents requesting direct technical assistance.

A grant from the Environmental Protection Agency is funding the workshops and water screenings. The first 45 workshop registrants at each of the two locations will receive free bacterial sample screening for their wells. Screenings for others are $25.

Well owners in Perry County can pick up sample bottles and collection instructions July 1-15 at 103-B 2nd St. West in New Augusta and in Jackson County July 15-29 at 4111 Amonett St., Suite E, in Pascagoula.

A water screening is not required for onsite technical assistance, nor is the assistance required to have water screened, but registration is required for free screenings. Those scheduled to have direct technical assistance will have their water samples collected at that time. For best results, use the sample bottles provided by the MSU Extension county office.

Screening results will be mailed to each well owner, along with a publication explaining how to interpret the results. Participants will receive free MSU Extension publications with information on private wells and septic systems.

Preregister for the workshop at http://msuext.ms/mswon or by calling 662-325-1788. MSU is an equal opportunity institution. For disability accommodation, please contact Jason Barrett at [email protected] or 662-325-1788.