Drinking Water and Wells

Spring is here and that often means its time start outdoor projects. Whether you are spading in new trees, putting in a koi pond or other excavated landscape features, drilling a new well, or installing a new onsite wastewater system, you want to make sure a ‘Locate Request’ has been submitted to Nebraska811 before digging.

Nebraska811 is the statewide one-call notification center, set up by Nebraska state law. It is the link between people who want to excavate and the underground facility owners/operators.

National Groundwater Awareness Week is March 9–15, making it the perfect time to talk about groundwater in Nebraska! What exactly is groundwater? It is the water below the earth’s surface that fills the interconnected voids and cracks in and around soil particles, sand, gravel and rock — all of this is what we call an aquifer.

Many parts of Nebraska have hard water. Hard water has a high mineral content; hardness primarily refers to the amount of calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) dissolved in the water. Hard water is not just a private well owner’s problem, it affects many municipal water users, too. While hard water does not present a health risk for the vast majority of the population, it is often a nuisance for rural and urban homeowners across the state. Having your well water tested for hardness is helpful in assessing what treatment system will work best.