Dartmouth Toxic Metal Research

Arsenic in Well Water: “How Does It Affect People? How Can We Get It Out?”

collaborating with middle school teachers

At the advice of EPA Region I, we are focusing our arsenic work on private well owners whose drinking water is contaminated by arsenic. In collaboration with EPA and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services we are doing research to understand the communication needs of private well owners who discover their wells are contaminated by arsenic. The goal is to determine how to support decision-making and facilitate risk-avoiding behavior. Our first step in understanding what state residents confront when they learn their drinking water is contaminated by arsenic was to gather information from more than 50 water treatment professionals who serve New Hampshire in order to learn about the arsenic remediation technologies they offer. We were also interested in their understandings of the information needs of their customers. We have completed this phase of the project, and have shared the results of the survey in a report to the Environmental Protection Agency and New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.