What is the NC Private Well Water Study?
The NC Private Well Water Study (NC PWWS) is comprised of two research studies at North Carolina State University. The goal of the NC PWWS is to sample private wells in North Carolina to assess the water quality of these wells. Each of the samples taken from the wells will be analyzed for contaminants that commonly impact private wells as well as contaminants that may uniquely affect North Carolina.
What does it look like to participate in one of these studies?
Participating in any one of the NC PWWS studies requires a limited amount of time. Our study lead will contact you after you indicate that you are interested in participating to confirm that you meet the study participation requirements. If you meet the requirements and agree to participate, you will then be asked to sign a consent form and fill out a short questionnaire containing questions about your private well and yourself. The study lead will then set up a time to come and sample your well. In total, the time required to participate in the study is approximately 30 minutes.
After taking samples, our study lead will process them, analyze them, and go through the data. If any of the results we receive indicate that your well water is unsafe to drink, we will contact you and recommend treatment options. The study lead will then put together a report containing all of your well’s results and send it back to you. The generated reports will be mailed to you, but you can also access them through an online portal. You can opt out of receiving the report for your well.
Your information and results will be protected and kept private. Any published results will not be connected to your personal information.
Sample collection, data processing, and report generation and distribution has been impacted by COVID.