The City of
Park Rapids, Minnesota
Is developing a
Long-term Private Well Nitrate Sampling Network
For questions about the information, please contact:
Scott Burlingame
(Park Rapids Wellhead Manager)
218-237-2713
Or
Luke Stuewe
(MDA Water Quality Advisor)
218-846-7425
A community effort to protect public wells
The Residents of Park Rapids rely on groundwater for their drinking water supply. The City owns and
operates several wells located within the City. These wells draw water from groundwater aquifers that
are recharged with water that soaks into the ground in areas west of the city. The sandy soils in this
area and the shallow depth to the groundwater table make this resource particularly vulnerable to
contamination from human activities on the land surface.
One contaminant that has shown up in the city water supply at increasing levels in nitrate nitrogen.
Through a process called “blending”, where water with low nitrate levels is mixed with water containing
higher nitrate levels, the city has been able to provide its residents with drinking water at nitrate levels
that are safe to drink. However, the current trends in nitrate levels measured in the city wells indicate
that this will become increasingly difficult in the future.
The City of Park Rapids is working with residents like yourself to establish a LONG-TERM PRIVATE
WELL SAMPLING NETWORK to monitor the level of nitrate in the groundwater that could eventually
be drawn up into the city wells. The purpose of this network is to collect information that will help us
better direct efforts to protect Park Rapids drinking water supply for the future.
For this sampling network to be successful we need your assistance. We are asking a select group of
homeowners for samples from their private well on a regular basis to collect this important groundwater
information.
All of the information collected from the private well samples in this network will be shared with each
private well owner.
Why do wells sometimes become polluted?
Wells become polluted when substances that are harmful to human health get into the groundwater.
Water from these wells can be dangerous to drink when the level of pollution which can be prevented by
wise use of land and chemicals. These actions will also avert the expense of treating polluted water or
drilling new wells. Help avoid drinking water contamination by being an environmentally aware citizen.
Why are we interested in your well for this network?
Your well fits two basic parameters that we were looking for:
1. Your well is located in an area where water soaking into the ground could eventually reach
the city wells.
2. Your well is shallow in depth.
The Shallow depth of the sampling wells in this network is very important. Shallow wells draw
groundwater that has most recently recharged the aquifer. Research has shown that wells drilled deeper
into the ground often produce older water that recharged the aquifer many years ago. In this network
we want to collect nitrate concentration data from shallow wells to give us the earliest possible
indication of areas where high levels of contamination are occurring. This sampling strategy will also
allow us to see the most recent impact that changes on the land surface have on groundwater nitrate
levels below.
What would participation in this network mean for you?
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At NO COST you will regularly receive the results from our water testing on your well.
Collect a water sample on the 15th of the month for six months starting in July 2008
Drop off this sample every 15th of the month at the Park Rapids Public Works Building.
Beyond the first six months, the intent is for this sampling to continue on a long term basis. The future
frequency of sample collection will depend on the test results from the first six monthly samples.
What is Groundwater?
Groundwater is the water that fills the small spaces between rock particles (sad, gravel, etc.) or cracks in
solid rock. Rain, melting snow, or surface water becomes groundwater by seeping into the ground and
filling these spaces. The top of the water-saturated zone is called the “water table”.
When water seeps in from the surface and reaches the water table, it begins moving towards points
where it can escape, such as wells, rivers, or lakes.
An aquifer is any type of geologic material, such as sand or sandstone, which can supply water to wells
or springs.
Groundwater often comes from within a short distance (a few miles) of a well. How fast groundwater
moves depends on how much the well is pumped and what type of rock particles or bedrock it is moving
through.