The Water Well Trust (WWT) is still seeking eligible households from 15 counties in Georgia to receive new water wells or rehabilitate existing wells before available funding expires on Sept. 30. The national nonprofit helps low income Americans get access to a clean, safe water supply.

To date, the nonprofit has completed water well projects in Hancock, Murray, Twiggs, Wilcox, Colquitt, and Monroe counties. Funds are still available for low-interest loans to eligible individual households for a new water well or rehabilitation of an existing water well. WWT limits funding to a maximum of $11,000 per household. Loans have an interest rate of 1 percent with terms of up to 20 years.

WWT received a matching grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for a project to increase potable water availability to households in 15 rural Georgia counties, including Colquitt, Grady, Hancock, Hart, Jones, Jefferson, Meriwether, Murray, Monroe, Worth, Twiggs, Macon, Washington, Wilcox and Warren.

To qualify for a WWT loan, Georgia applicants must be the owner and occupant of the home as their primary residence. In addition, the annual household income for the applicant and all other occupants of the home must not exceed a combined total of $45,300.

Prospective applicants can download the application form and instruction letter from the Water Well Trust website at www.waterwelltrust.org/apply or call 202-625-4383 for more information.

The Water Systems Council works to protect groundwater and to ensure private well users in the U.S. have safe, reliable drinking water. The Water Systems Council established the Water Well Trust in 2010 to provide clean, sanitary drinking water to Americans who lack access to a reliable water supply and to construct and document small community water systems using water wells to demonstrate that these systems are more economical. For more information, visit www.waterwelltrust.org.