HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. -- Homeowners in small communities and rural areas without public water supplies can learn how to better manage, operate and protect their private wells.

The “Water Quality and Private Wells” workshop will be July 28 from 6 to 9 p.m. The program is available as an online webinar or in person at the Marshall County Extension office in Holly Springs.

“This program will help Mississippi well owners understand groundwater basics, well care best practices and how to find assistance,” said Jason Barrett, an instructor with the Mississippi State University Extension Service Center for Government and Community Development. “We will teach well owners how to sample their wells, how to interpret sample results and what they can do to protect their wells and source waters from contamination.”

Information about the workshop and registration is available at http://www.communitiesu.org or through the Marshall County Extension office at 662-252-3541.

Instructors will include Barrett and Steve Wilson, a groundwater hydrologist with the Illinois State Water Survey.

The MSU Extension Service is participating with the Rural Community Assistance Partnership-Communities Unlimited and the University of Illinois to help Mississippians with private wells learn more about managing their water supplies.

“The majority of Mississippians get their water from municipal supplies or rural water associations, but there are thousands of homes in rural areas that depend on private wells,” Barrett said. “In fact, an average of 14 percent of households in the state’s 82 counties rely on private wells. In four of those counties, more than 40 percent of homes have private wells.”

Additional information on private wells in Mississippi is available online at http://bit.ly/1ClrFSH.