Income survey needed for water well field study

Winamac residents are being encouraged to complete the income survey sent to them by the Town of Winamac, sooner than later, as it is needed for a grant application process.

Water customers should have recently received an income study that asks some basic financial questions about households. The survey is used to determine if the town can qualify for grant funding that will be used for a well study, in the hopes of locating an area where a new wellhead can be drilled.

Town manager Brad Zellers said the wells are in good shape, but the town is hoping to find another well field because the current wells use the same aquifer. The wells are about 400 feet deep and began supplying water to the town circa 1898.

He said a new well “will get it out of an area for a contingency to where you have backup.”

Water superintendent Jeremy Beckner said the wellheads are about 200 feet apart and supply the town with about 101,380,000 gallons a year.

“If we lose one well then we are more than likely going to lose two,” Beckner said.

Not only does the town have to worry about the well becoming contaminated but also with a low water table.

“If those wells go down then we don’t have water,” Beckner said.

Beckner said he doesn’t remember a time when there was a concern of the water being too low. The recent drought did have the area conserving water but the wells were not tested at the time.

The new well field will be part of the wellhead protection plan that is required by the state, according to Zellers.

“The plan is basically, what will you do if this happens? It needs to get out of that area for another well,” Zellers said. “You have to be prepared for what can happen.”

At this time, Beckner said the town hasn’t discussed where potential sites could be for the wells.

There must be a certain amount of land alloted for the well fields and it must be decided what distance the town is willing to go for a well field.

“Drilling the well and the amount of land needed for the field, those costs and the pump are pretty easy to figure. But is it going to be 2 miles away? Three miles away? That’s the huge cost difference - putting the pipes in the ground,” Zellers said.

The study will include discovering which way the aquifers draw from.

Pulaski County Journal

114 W. Main Street
Winamac, IN 46996

(574) 946-6628
 

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