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Water woes surface at dairy barn
BY CHARLES GARRATT • STAFF WRITER
 | | Muddy water poured from a pipe on Homestead Preserve property near the Dairy Barn and down to Warm Springs Run last Tuesday. The turbid water was coming from a new well drilled behind the Dairy Barn being tested and developed for inclusion in the county drinking water system. Pumping was shut down for a day while a settling pond was built to prevent the flow of dirty water into the creek. (Photo courtesy Peter Mennen) |
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WARM SPRINGS - The engineer overseeing development of a new well on Homestead Preserve property behind the Dairy Barn said steps have been taken to prevent mud-laden water from the well entering Warm Springs Run, as happened last week.
Brent Waters, senior hydrogeologist with Golder Associates, said pumping has stopped at the site since the first phase of testing is complete. Last week, when testing began, the water pumped from the newly drilled well was muddy. "Turbidity is an issue," said Waters.
Wells drilled in karst formations are frequently muddy but clear up over time, Waters said. The problem last week occurred because the discharge pipe was several hundred feet from the well, and the water was expected to clear after running over grass. Workers were mostly monitoring at the well-head and did not notice the muddy discharge was reaching the creek across the road.
Warm Springs resident Peter Mennen, though, did notice the muddy, smelly water flowing in the creek near his house. He traced the dirty water upstream to its source and found the discharge pipe and the well. He said he complained to the Homestead Preserve on Monday afternoon and the flow was still running Tuesday. Mennen was concerned the water was impacting the quality of the stream; he contacted zoning official Sherry Ryder and building inspector Andy Seabolt, who went to the site and saw the turbid discharge.
Ryder said this week in recounting the incident that the county did not actually have authority to halt the pumping operation. While the county does have an erosion and sedimentation ordinance, Ryder and Seabolt didn't feel it applied to the well discharge, Ryder said.
However, operators of the pump agreed to stop pumping and build a settlement basin. "If you don't, DEQ is going to know and they'll shut you down," Ryder said she and Seabolt told them.
Waters said the Homestead Preserve immediately ordered the pump shut down once representatives were notified of the muddy discharge reaching the creek. The holding pond was built the same afternoon, he said. He said his firm and Roanoke Pump and Sales would be "more attuned to (muddy discharge) here on out."
On Monday, Mennen called the county again when he spotted muddy water in the creek. On inspection he found the water moving over the settlement basin too quickly to remove the mud it contained. "The Preserve is making a mockery of decent behavior and consideration for the environment," Mennen said after seeing the turbid water.
Ryder and Seabolt returned to the site but found the water flow "crystal clear." By Tuesday morning, pumping had ended and only a small trickle of clear water was flowing from the pond, Ryder said.
Waters confirmed pump testing had stopped and would not likely resume for a couple more weeks. He said during any future test he would make sure no turbid water overflowed the holding pond.
In addition to the muddy color of the water, Mennen noticed a strong smell of sulfur. Ryder said the water smelled "very sulphury." She smelled "the stench of rotten eggs" as soon as she got close to the discharge.
The smell is from hydrogen sulfide gas, Waters said. He said the gas does not pose a health risk and is common in well water from karst formations in this region. Muddy water is also a common problem in wells drilled in karst, he added. One of the purposes for pumping water from the well was to attempt to clear the mud, according to Waters. The water in many wells will clear up after the mud seams broken during drilling are cleared, he explained. He expects the water in this well will also remain clear though it may require a couple more pumping cycles.
The new well is part of an expansion of water sources for the county water system planned in an agreement between the county and the Homestead Preserve. The well being tested will be turned over to the Public Service Authority after it is approved by the Virginia Department of Health and accepted by the PSA.
Initial tests indicate the well could produce as much as 1,100 gallons per minute. Waters said such a high volume usually causes people to have one of two reactions: "Wow, what a huge viable resource or, using this huge source of water will have a huge impact on the environment."
Though the well has a lot of potential, Waters said plans call for needing only about 150 gpm. But the muddy water is only one of the issues that must be resolved before the well can be added to the system. While the hydrogen sulfide is not a health issue, it is an aesthetic issue. "No one wants to add water smelling like that to a water system," he said. If the gas does not dissipate during additional pumping, it can be removed by treatment.
What might be a bonus to many people is also a liability for a public water supply, Waters said of the 78-degree temperature of the well water. The warm, smelly water prompted Waters to conduct flow tests at the Jefferson Pools during pump testing to make sure the well was not impacting the pools or any local wells. "We did pretty careful flow studies at the pools," Waters said. They did not see any impact on the pools or two nearby wells during the five days of testing.
Waters said his goal is to develop a reliable, high quality water source. Samples were taken every six hours during the five-day pump test and will be analyzed over the coming weeks. He expects to be back in the county and to have the initial analysis complete within a month.
"By volume, the well is one of the biggest in the region," Waters said. But with the mud, the hydrogen sulfide and the temperature, it may not prove to be a good source for drinking water.
Before VDH will approve the well, it must be certain there are no health risks. Michelle Caruthers, VDH district engineer is keeping track of the new well. She said her office would require the well to meet EPA standards before they would allow the water to flow into a public system.
If the mud and smell and temperature are not solvable, or other problems with the water are revealed during test analysis, either VDH or the PSA may reject the well.
Waters expects to know if the well will be a viable source within six weeks. "If not, we'll have to look for a new source," he said.
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