Adams County Workshops Highlight Wellwater Security DAVE LEFEVER Lancaster Farming Staff GETTYSBURG (Adams Co.) Drought or no drought, home owners with private wells should pay attention to their water sup ply. Unusually low groundwater levels across the region this spring at a time when they should be approaching their year ly high heightens the concern. Adams County residents re cently attended wellwater work shops here March 18 and 25 aimed at helping ensure a safe supply of water from their well. They learned about groundwater movement, well drilling, water testing, and homeowner handling of fertilizers and pesticides. According to Tom McCarty, multicounty water quality exten sion agent, starting the spring season with low groundwater lev els is risky for some private water supplies. “I think we’re going to head into the summer with low (water) levels,” he said, predicting the likelihood of “shallow” wells going dry. Randy Alexander of Alexan der’s Well Drilling, Fairfield, said that most of the drought-related • Controls your most important annual grasses and broadleaf weeds • Innovative, low-rate chemistry • Two modes of action • Long-residual control reactivates with rainfall • Dry flowable means less product for you to handle • Can be used in conventional, conservation or no-till com production systems • Apply preplant surface, PPI or pre-emergence For moro information, contact: Dave Slagle 724-894-2134 Marvin Bradney 434-295-6983 problems he has seen are with shallow water sources such as springs and hand-dug wells, or drilled wells less than 100 feet deep. “We haven’t seen much prob lem with deeper wells,” he said. Alexander noted that deep wells can also go dry especially if they are fed by groundwater from a shallow level. However, wells that are drawing water from depths of more than 100 feet will likely keep producing a steady supply, he said. For homeowners, direct moni toring of groundwater levels on your property is difficult, usually requiring an expensive water level meter to lower into the well, according to Penn State exten sion information. A less direct but more practical way to gauge water levels is by referring to U.S. Geological Survey data gathered from 67 monitoring wells across the state. Website posting this in formation is found at http://pa.water.usgs.gov/dur plots/well_duration.html. McCarty demonstrated the movement of water in the ground by using a cross-sectional model consisting of soil, colored water, a stream bed, and observation wells. Rivers and larger streams tend to be natural dividing points for groundwater movement, he pointed out. Under normal conditions, groundwater moving toward a stream bed will generally not flow across or under the stream bed to the other side. Accordingly, any contamination in the groundwa ter on one side of the stream will not usually reach the water table on the other side. If drought conditions cause a stream to dry up, however, groundwater and any contami nants in it could potentially cross under the streambed. Flood waters can carry surface contamination across these natu ral boundaries as well, McCarty said. Groundwater movement is also affected by the type of material that surrounds it in the earth, he said. A relatively loose material such as gravel (or limestone) al lows faster water movement than a denser substrate. Dr. Irving Kipnis, lab director of Express Analytical Services, Inc., Chambersburg, gave an overview of water quality testing. While water can be tested for a wide spectrum of contaminants. »J JUUUUII mammmaS EPIC Take control ™ The ideal herbicide of the future is here now. Ask your dealer about new EPIC ™ 58DF Herbicide from Bayer Corporation. ©2OOO Bayer Corporation ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW LABEL DIRECTIONS EPIC IS A RESTRICTED USE PESTICIDE EPIC is not available for use in all states utcrop.bayer.com EP0023 Bayer 0 homeowners usually need to con cern themselves with only a few of them, according to Kipniss. Bacteria is at the top of the list. “The most important test to do for a home well is for coliform bacteria,” Kipniss said, pointing out that the Pennsylvania De partment of Environmental pro tection recommends testing once a year. Though coliforms are common above ground and most are not harmful in themselves, they indi cate the possible presence of harmful types such as E. coli. The absence of coliforms general ly means no harmful kinds are present, he said. Nitrates are a concern for wells in farming and residential areas with high fertilizer applications. Water hardness and pH follow on the list of the most widely used water tests for homeowners. Metals such as lead can also be a concern, especially in homes with older plumbing. Each of the most common water tests cost less than $3O, according to Kipniss. Some local conservation districts, such as the one in Adams County, also offer better rates to homeowners by sending samples to the lab in bulk. Philip Pitzer, environmental safety specialist with the Pennsyl vania Department of Agriculture, delivered encouraging news about the impact of pesticides on water quality in the state. Of 1,100 wells tested for five major pesticides since 1993, only three of the wells showed a prob lem, he said. Hie program focuses on “vul nerable areas,” with high concen trations of agriculture. Water samples are analyzed for the presence of atrazine, alachlor, metolachlor, simazine, and cy an azine. Acetachlor has recently been added to the list. The state has also gathered and disposed of about 1.1 million pounds of old pesticides and re cycled about a half million pounds through another pro gram, Chemsweep, begun in 1993. About 265,000 pounds of pesticide containers have been re cycled at 137 locations statewide for pesticide container recycling, Pitzer said For more information on water conservation and quality, contact your local conservation district.
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