Private Wells Update for August 2017

I am seeing a large increase in traffic on this page. Three issues may account for this: 
1. The groundwater level in private wells is running low.
2. Water quality may be deteriorating as the well pump is pumping the bottom of the barrel, (so to speak).
3. The period of time for registering to licence a private well has a deadline around the spring of 2019.    Click for More Information

​If there is more information or links needed please advise me on the contact page

Private Wells

Most of the Private Wells in the Oceanside Area Could be at Risk of Contamination
I have lived in the Oceanside Area for more than 35 years. During that time, I have had the opportunity to work and visit many hundreds of properties with private wells. A wide range of issues can result in water contamination or water shortages for well owners.
10 fundamentals in point form:
  1. Drilling wells and pumping water from underground is not a naturally occurring activity and can have far reaching implications over time.
  2. Every water well is different; soil types, drilling method, groundwater levels, pump type, pipe and plumbing variations, wellhead protection, interflow from surface, recharge area protection, contamination risks, are some of the variables.
  3. Testing a sample of water from a well, will not provide enough information to determine that the water is safe to drink over a long period of time.
  4. Determining and protecting the source of the water in the well is fundamental to a safe and secure system.
  5. Contamination risks of any type, including waste water disposal fields and surface water flows should not be located less than 30 meters or 100 feet (preferably much further) from a well.
  6. In the Oceanside region there are tens of thousands of wells. A significant number of these wells are unused or abandoned, and most are not properly sealed. These wells pose a significant risk to both water quality and lowering of groundwater levels.
  7. Surface water can enter any well regardless of depth, if the well casing is not completely sealed down to an impermeable subsurface level. This situation usually only occurs seasonally or after a heavy rain event.
  8. Over extraction of groundwater will occur over time if the historic levels do not fully recover on an annual basis.
  9. Declining groundwater reserves can occur over a very large area of many kilometers; the effects are compounding and most often cannot be reversed.
  10. In most situations over extracted groundwater causes the land above to subside or shrink, which in turn reduces storage potential. 

Should your well be licenced?  
New Requirements for Groundwater users if you divert and use groundwater for non-domestic purposes, you must now obtain a water licence
More Information

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​The wellSMART education program helps private well owners protect the quality and supply of their drinking water.

Click the drip to find out https://www.rdn.bc.ca/wellsmart
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Why Monitor Groundwater?
It is hard to manage what you don't measure - groundwater is one of those elusive things that is relatively hard to measure​.

​Click drip to link to RDN page
https://www.rdn.bc.ca/groundwater-monitoring
Most of the Private Wells in the Oceanside Area Could be at Risk of Contamination
The short video below describes a part of the reason why well owners need to be well informed.
​Understanding and Protecting the Well and Source.
 
Groundwater and well-head protection are essential components to providing healthy drinking water. Water can move through the ground at a few meters a year or many meters an hour.
Even if the well is tens or more than a hundred meters deep, contaminated surface water could reach the bottom of the well within a very short time during a heavy rain event. 
Water Protection & Sustainability Branch
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wsd/plan_protect_sustain/groundwater/