Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Abandon Well Concerns

Would you cut a hole in your arm and then leave it unprotected?

Frankly that is exactly what happens many times every day in rural and suburban areas.  Well owner find that their existing well is inadequate for any of a number of reasons and drill a new well.  What the forget to do is "fill in" the old well to protect the water supply.

That old well becomes a source of contamination to the aquifer, just like the untreated wound in your arm becomes a source of contamination to your blood stream.  And the consequences can be as harmful.

Old abandoned wells are commonly the source of contamination from microorganisms, organic pollutants and other surface related toxins.  Contamination not only enters from the top of the well, but through the soil immediately below the surface.  Occasionally a plume of contamination reaches down significantly beneath the surface.

Depending on the distance between the old well and the new well, the "cross talk" contamination can be almost immediate.   When we do a well inspection and discover that there is an abandoned or seldom used well on the property we always examine the old well.

We drop our camera into the OLD well.  We then turn on the water which draws from the NEW well.  It is very common for the water level in the OLD well to drop almost immediately, which means that they are drawing from the same connected aquifer.  Therefore the contamination which led to the abandonment of the OLD well is now in the new well.

Some folks recommend capping the old well. However, that is really insufficient to protect the aquifer.  Completely filling in the well with cement of or uncontaminated mud is really the only solution to protecting the water supply from contamination that is sourced in the OLD well.

When ever you plan to abandon a well, make sure that you include in you budget the cost of filling in the old well.  It is recommended that you discuss this with your well company at the same time you discuss a new well.  Because new wells are often drilled in an emergency circumstance, this may not be an option. However as soon as the emergency is past, discuss filling in that old well.  It will save many headaches down the road.

Greg Aldrich
ETR Laboratories, Inc.
(800) 344-9977
galdrich@etrlabs.com

1 comment:

  1. I would really be interested in locating a trustworthy company that has experience with radon testing in San Jose.

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