Water level drops at school well

By Christopher Ruvo, Intelligencer, September 21, 2007

A well that supplies water to Palisades High School dropped 100 feet below its normal level last week, creating a scare the school could go without water.

A second well that serves Durham-Nockamixon Elementary, next to the high school, dropped to the same level, but its supply was never in question because the deeper-reaching pump was able to draw from the lower depth. Levels are normal for wells that serve the district's other schools, officials said.

Fortunately, district officials were quick to install a new pump at the high school's 500-foot well, which was able to reach the water supply and draw water.

But the problem remains because officials don't know why the water level dropped, or if the supply could continue to deplete.

“It's certainly viewed as very serious because there's the potential to have the schools going without water. It would be disastrous,” said school board member Charles Herrmann.

The district's facilities manager, David Keppel, said the well is being monitored by an electronic tracking device, and officials are investigating why the water level has dropped. He said the high school will continue to have water.

“Our (well) casing goes down 500 feet and we can continue to lower the pump,” Keppel said.

Since Aug. 28, the area has received just 0.4 inch of rain, according to AccuWeather's Tom Kines. The rainfall average for the period is about 3.5 inches.

“Wells could be lower than what they should be this time of the year, but they shouldn't be dangerously low unless they are very shallow,” Kines said. The area is not in a drought because 29.5 inches have fallen so far this year, just below the normal 30.5 inches, he said.

 

Keppel doesn't think the drop is the result of little rain in recent weeks and said that previous water shortages have never caused the water level to drop this precipitously. He said he doesn't think that development — which is relatively sporadic in the school district — has sapped the supply.

The new pump at the high school, which was installed Monday, reaches a depth of 280 feet. The previous pump went down 180 feet.

Herrmann said the well once featured a pump that went deeper than 180 feet, but the shorter pump was installed, in part, because it was less expensive to run.

“In hindsight that wasn't such a good idea,” he said.

The school board authorized spending up to $9,200 on the new pump and well upgrades at its Wednesday night board meeting.

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