Kings County residents may sign up to have drinking water wells tested for free
- Editor’s note: Monserrat Solis covers Kings County water issues for SJV Water through the California Local News Fellowship initiative.
Rural Kings County residents concerned about their drinking water may sign up to have their wells tested for free at an event to be held at 5:30 p.m. March 18.
The Kings Water Alliance is hosting the informational event for residents to apply to have their wells tested for nitrate contamination.
The event will be held at the Kings Cultural Center, 14054 Front Street, Armona. The well testing program is free for Kings County residents who rely on wells for drinking water.
The alliance has offered its free program to residents in portions of Fresno County and a small northeast portion of Tulare County and is expanding into Kings County. The free testing program was made available to residents in the rest of Kings County starting last month.
There are an estimated 10,000 rural Kings County residents who rely on private wells for their water and chances are strong many are contaminated with nitrate, a type of salt.
“One in two wells are impacted by nitrates, making those wells unsafe for drinking water in the Kings County area,” alliance Executive Director Debra Dunn said during a water webinar last year.
Nitrate contamination can be lethal to newborns, causing what’s commonly known as “blue baby syndrome.” Some studies have also found a link between long-term nitrate exposure and some types of cancer.
If residents’ water tests positive for nitrate above the allowable limit, the alliance will also deliver free 5-gallon jugs of water bi-weekly to those families.
The alliance also offers free, safe drinking water at fill stations in Hanford, Kerman and Dinuba that can fill up to 5 gallon containers. The water provided at the stations is pulled from a municipal supply that is regularly tested for nitrates.
Fill stations are located at:
- 504 W. 7th St., Hanford
- 15101 W. Kearney Blvd., Kerman
- 517 W. El Monte Way, Dinuba
The event can be joined in-person or over zoom. The alliance recommends signing up here and registering over zoom here. Spanish translation will be available.
The March event will inform residents about the program, what nitrate contamination is and what areas in the county are most impacted.
Nitrate management zones were created in 2021 by the Central California Regional Water Quality Control Board in order to help families with contaminated wells.
The first management zone covered the Modesto, Turlock, Chowchilla, Kings, Kaweah and Tule subbains. The second zone covered Yolo, Tulare Lake, Delta Mendota, eastern San Joaquin, Madera and part of Kern subbasins.
Each management zone has an outreach coordinator similar to Kings Water Alliance for residents to contact about their drinking water. Outreach organizations include:
- Chowchilla Management Zone
- Kaweah Water Foundation
- Kern Water Collaborative
- Tule Basin Management Zone
- Valley Water Collaborative, which covers the Merced area.
To learn more about management zones and find out if you or a family member has a well in a management zone, click here.
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