Water Wells

Thursday November 6, 2025

Well & Septic Owner’s Check List

💧Inspect your wellhead and area around it in the fall and spring. Perform maintenance as necessary:

Thursday June 5, 2025

It’s Time for Private Well Maintenance

Mid-late spring or early summer is the prime time to conduct a private well maintenance check. Winter can be especially hard on outdoor systems; surfaces and landscaping that are subject to the elements. Getting in the habit of inspecting and maintaining your well system in the spring and the fall is a good habit to get into. It will help ensure everything operates efficiently and can potentially save you from shelling out money for costly repairs.

INSPECTION

Wednesday July 1, 2020

What You Need to Know About Having a Well Drilled

Those residences that are not served by a public water system need a source of water for both consumption and daily needs. A private well most often fulfills these needs. While the cost of drilling a well is not a huge expense in the overall purchase or building of a home, it is a necessary expense to provide the residence with a useable water supply and it adds value to the property.

Thursday July 27, 2017

Water conservation in the hot summer months

Water use inside and outside the home can increase significantly both inside and outside the home during the summer. Learn some easy conservation measures that can result in saving water, energy and money.

Monday November 27, 2017

What's the deal with smelly water?

Odors that can be compared to rotten eggs are not ideal in your home or coming from your drinking water faucet. Sulfates, which are a combination of sulfur and oxygen, are naturally occurring minerals. They are found in some soil and rock formations where groundwater is also found. Bacteria that feed on sulfur can produce hydrogen sulfide gas which is the primary offender when it comes to odor.

Papio-Missouri River NRD 2018 Groundwater Management Plan

The Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District (P-MRNRD) 2018 Groundwater Management Plan incorporates and responds to new data and information about groundwater quantity and quality throughout the District. The new plan incorporates data from studies, as well as regulation changes including:

Friday March 16, 2018

Salt-Free Water "Softener" Alternatives

In recent years several emerging non-chemical technologies based on a variety of physical phenomena have entered the market to aid consumers in addressing the problems caused by hard water. These are an alternative to a traditional ion exchange water softener. Generally these technologies do not remove most of the hardness minerals from the water, but reduce the problems associated by the hardness.

Monday April 23, 2018

Celebrate (and check) your drinking water in May

National Drinking Water Week is held in May each year to bring attention to important water quantity and quality issues and their relationship to drinking water supplies. The attention to drinking water during that week provides an opportunity to learn more water resources in general and also serves a reminder to think about where your water comes from.

Stormwater runoff and your well

Protecting the quality and safety of your water supply means protecting your well and the area surrounding it by not storing hazardous materials including fuel, metals and chemicals near the well, keeping livestock including horses away, and limiting applications of lawn chemicals immediately around the well. However, to protect your water supply you need to look beyond the area immediately around your well.

Friday July 27, 2018

Iron and manganese in water

Discolored water. A strange odor. Stained ceramic fixtures such as tubs, sinks and toilets. Discolored clothes, towels and dishes. Reduced water pressure. These are all some of the potential impacts from high levels of iron and manganese in your water supply.

Friday March 1, 2019

Proactive Drinking Water Management for a Unique Water System

The City of Auburn, population 3,000, is located in southeast Nebraska, near the Little Nemaha River, approximately seven miles upstream of its confluence with the Missouri River. The City receives its drinking water from a wellfield located east of the community within an alluvial aquifer along the Little Nemaha River. The wellfield consists of 11 vertical wells averaging 45 to 50 feet below the ground's surface, pumping up to 150 million gallons per year.

Monday April 1, 2019

Why does groundwater nitrate vary so much across Nebraska?

Have you ever wondered why groundwater nitrate maps show so much variation across Nebraska? Or why wells near to your own tested well have such different nitrate levels? The answer has three parts. Nitrate in groundwater varies from place to place because of differences in: