Environmental Health
Environmental Health is the branch of public health concerned with all aspects of the natural and built environment affecting human health. Environmental health focuses on the natural and built environments for the benefit of human health.
NCDHD Environmental Health Programs
IF YOUR DRINKING WATER TEST LEVELS ARE
ABOVE 10 PPM OF NITRATE YOU MAY BE ELIGIBLE
FOR A REBATE ON A REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM
TO REMOVE NITRATE FROM YOUR PRIVATE WELL
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Contact your local NRD or NCDHD to pick up your testing kits.
Testing is simple:
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Pick up you kit here in our office 422 E Douglas St. O'Neill, Ne
or -
Find your nearest NRD (as seen on the right side of this page) and pick one up there.
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Follow the enclosed instructions in your kits.
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Complete the test order form
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What can you test for and cost:
$21.00-Coliform/E-Coli
$19.00-Nitrate
$19.00-Hardness
$19.00-Flouride
$19.00-pH
If a private well owner’s results are above 10 parts per million (ppm) of nitrate, they may be eligible for NDEE’s Reverse Osmosis (RO) Rebate Program to treat their water. This program offers up to $4,000 in rebates to well owners whose wells are registered through the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources and whose wells sample above 10 ppm of nitrate.
Applications for the RO system rebates must be submitted by June 30, 2024. NDEE accepts and reviews RO rebate applications on a month-to-month basis. Learn more about the RO Rebate Program on NDEE’s website: http://dee.ne.gov/Publica.nsf/pages/22-051.
Private well owners are responsible for testing their water
Unlike public drinking water supplies, private wells are not regulated by EPA. Owners of private wells are responsible for testing their water to make sure it is safe to drink.
If you have a private well, test it at least once a year for mechanical problems, cleanliness, coliform bacteria, nitrates, and any other germs or chemicals of local concern. Also check your well after flooding or if you suspect a problem (for example, a change in taste or smell). Germs and chemicals can get in wells after flooding, particularly if wells are shallow, were dug or bored, or were covered by floodwater for days or weeks.
If your water is contaminated (has unsafe levels of germs or chemicals), do not drink it and contact your health department for advice about how to make it safe to drink.
If your private well has harmful germs or chemicals in it, your neighbors’ water may also be unsafe to drink. This is because your well is likely connected to the same source of ground water (aquifer).
Water Contamination and Diseases | Drinking Water | Healthy Water | CDC
Addtional Resources:
Check out our NRD partners that can help you out with your water testing needs-Natural Resources Districts were created to solve flood control, soil erosion, irrigation run-off, and groundwater quantity and quality issues. Nebraska's NRDs are involved in a wide variety of projects and programs to conserve and protect the state's natural resources. NRDs are charged under state law with 12 areas of responsibility including flood control, soil erosion, groundwater management and many others.