The Rural Voice, 1990-07, Page 33The notion that groundwater flows
in fast-moving subterranean streams is
a common misconception which many
water well associations are trying to
dispel.
In the U.S., the National Water
Well Association regularly campaigns
for greater public education about the
occurrence and movement of ground-
water. In the April 1990 issue of Wa-
ter Well Journal, editor Scott Hurlburt
asserts that "frequent headlines shatter
the public's perception of groundwater
quality. The lack of knowledge about
the most basic concepts of hydrogeol-
ogy cheats the consumer of a depend-
able source of water."
In a similar vein, Dr. Jay Lehr,
executive director of the National
Water Well Association and one of the
most quoted water authorities in North
America, suggests that not more than
2/10 of 1 per cent of potable ground-
water in the U.S. is contaminated, "a
figure the public rarely — if ever —
hears," says Hurlburt.
Neil Hopper agrees.
"We (the OWWA) have just hired
a public relations person to help peo-
ple understand the benefits of ground-
water as opposed to the greater prob-
lems associated with pipeline (surface)
water," he says.
The Hopper family business,
which started in Seaforth back in
1915, has drilled literally thousands
of water wells all over Ontario. With
three generations of experience behind
him, Neil Hopper is confident of the
company's ability to know where wa-
ter of good quality can or cannot be
found. And while they can't guaran-
tee they'll find good water every time,
the Hoppers stand behind the motto
painted on their drilling rigs: "Where
Hopper Goes The Water Flows."
The most common method of
establishing a well in southern Ontario
is by conventional rotary drilling. A
hollow drill stem and bit cuts through
earth and rock to levels as deep as 450
feet (135 metres). The drilled hole is
kept open (as the materials broken up
by the drilling are removed) by cir-
culating a fluid called drilling mud.
This mixture of bentonite (a commer-
cial clay) and water is pumped down
drill rods, returned to a ground level
settling or straining pit, and reused
through the entire drilling procedure.
But as Neil Hopper warns, creek or
river water can no longer be trusted as
a solvent for drilling mud.
"With possible pesticides and herb-
icides running off fields into surface
water, we can't take the chance of
using that. So we haul our own water
(in a 1,000 gallon tank truck) to each
drill site. That eliminates the possi-
bility of polluting a new well."
While optimistic about the avail-
ability of good quality groundwater in
most of rural Ontario, Hopper does not
minimize the growing threats this nat-
ural resource is facing. Carelessness
on the part of industry and some indi-
viduals has contaminated groundwater
sources in some areas.
As an example, Neil Hopper cites
the practice of drilling disposal wells
for industrial waste. Between 1958
and 1974, petro -chemical companies
in the Sarnia area disposed of more
than seven -million cubic metres of
acids, sulfides, caustic wastes, and
phenolic waters in deep wells all over
Lambton County.
Two years ago, Durl Hopper
(Neil's brother and co-owner of the
family business) was contracted by
Environment Canada (EC) and the
Ontario Ministry of the Environment
(MOE) to drill several dozen wells in
that area to monitor growing concerns
that contaminated materials were
reaching groundwater aquifers and,
in some areas, seeping up old explor-
ation wells to ground level.
Water -well drillers in Ontario
also cite bureaucratic incompetence
and poorly enforced legislation as
causes of problems that may yet result
in groundwater contamination.
Since 1946 it has been the legal
responsibility of each licensed well
driller in Ontario to submit a "Water
DON'T JUST FORGET GRANDPA'S WELL!
The importance of plugging an
abandoned water well properly is the
subject of a six-page fact sheet pub-
lished by Environment Ontario.
Legislation concerning open wells
that are no longer in service is in place
— and may soon be more effectively
policed. The Ontario Water Resour-
ces Act (November, 1984) makes a
well owner legally responsible for the
plugging of abandoned wells.
The main reasons for plugging a
well are to:
• eliminate the physical hazard,
• prevent groundwater contamination,
• conserve the yield and maintain
water levels in aquifers,
• prevent intermingling between
waters of desirable and undesirable
quality to ensure that original sub-
surface conditions are restored.
If existing legislation is more
stringently applied, the owners of
improperly abandoned water wells
could face conviction under the Water
Resources Act. Penalties amounting to
$5,000 a day may apply to any person
convicted of an offence.
A copy of the Act and the fact
sheet outlining recommended methods
for plugging abandoned water wells is
available free of charge from: Minis-
try of the Environment, Southwestern
Region, 985 Adelaide Street S.,
London, Ontario, N6E 1V3, (519)
661-2200.0
WATER FACTS
• Farm Water Requirements
(litres per day):
Each family member
(kitchen, laundry, bath) 270-450
Dairy cow 132
Dry cow 45
Horse 45
Hog 15
100 chickens 19-38
• Through transpiration (the process
of giving up moisture to the air) one
acre of corn yields 11,000 to 15,000
litres of water per day at the height
of the growing season.
• Of all the water on earth, only 0.6
per cent is in the form of liquid fresh
water (rivers, lakes, surface/soil
water, groundwater).
• 378,000 Litres of water are used to
manufacture one automobile.
• 2,000 litres are used to produce one
kilogram of sugar.
• It takes 12 million litres of water
falling 12 metres through a hydro-
electric plant to produce enough
electricity to power a typical home
for 24 hours.
JULY 1990 29
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