Groundwater Exploration Success in Elizabethtown, NY

The Town of Elizabethtown, located at the eastern edge of the High Adirondacks region in Essex County, New York, has been experiencing chronic water supply problems, including sporadic (but all too frequent) shortages. Its sources consist of four shallow sand-and-gravel wells and an adjacent spring source. The total supply does not exceed 90 gallons per minute. The four wells were installed ten years ago in the hopes of remedying the Town’s water supply problems. The Town contracted with the team of HydroSource Associates and Dodson & Associate, PLLC, a Schenectady, NY-based consulting engineer, to locate and develop a new water source (HSA) and make several distribution system improvements (Dodson).

HSA conducted hydrogeologic investigations to assess local and regional surficial and bedrock geology specifically in regard to a new groundwater source. The investigations included on-site geologic mapping, electromagnetic and gravimetric geophysical surveys, and a groundwater recharge assessment.

After drilling an unsatisfactory test well on Town property near its existing sources, a second test well was drilled on HSA’s highest priority target. The setting is in a confined aquifer having a laterally extensive confining clay layer. The test well was drilled to a total depth of 78 feet and is now a free flowing well. The initial yield was increased by the use of a down-hole perforation tool to increase the total open area of the well and is now flowing at approximately 100 gallons per minute. Preliminary water quality analysis results indicate excellent water quality.

At this point, HSA has recommended that the Town install a new production well adjacent to the successful test well. The location of this well is fortuitous in that it appears that water will be able to reach any treatment and storage facilities by gravity.

New Water Source for Sandy Creek/Lacona Joint Water Works

HydroSource Associates, Inc., a team of experienced geoscientists based in Ashland, New Hampshire, has located and developed yet another source of plentiful, high-quality drinking water for yet another New York State client. While the Villages of Sandy Creek and Lacona were hoping for a consistent new supply of 250,000 gallons per day, they got far more. Here's the before and after.

Before. The Sandy Creek/Lacona Joint Water Works were relying on four wells. Two of the wells were shallow, gravel-packed dug wells that were 30 feet in total depth. They were installed in the 1940s. A third "well" is a series of perforated well tiles placed in a large excavation and backfilled with gravel which was installed in the mid-1980s. The fourth well, installed in 1989, is a conventional screened sand-and-gravel well, also about 30 feet in depth. Even when taken all together, these wells did not provide enough volume throughout the year. Furthermore, the wells are adjacent to an active railroad line. Given the age of the wells and the way they were constructed, they may be quite susceptible to contamination from any hazardous material that could be released in a derailment and from herbicide application for weed control along the railroad right-of-way.

After. The primary task for HydroSource was to find and develop a new groundwater source that would lessen the threat of contamination from railroad activity and provide a reliable, long-term water supply of adequate volume and quality to satisfy the needs of Sandy Creek and Lacona for many years to come. HydroSource conducted its proven systematic search, which included geophysical surveys and on-site geologic mapping, to identify test well drilling targets. The most promising place was an area north of Lacona and east of the railroad on property owned by Hanson Aggregates where the sand-and-gravel deposit appeared to be thicker than the norm for the area.

An eight-inch diameter, screened test well was installed in the sand-and-gravel aquifer and a preliminary measurement showed the well to be capable of yielding 175 gallons per minute (252,000 gallons per day) even before any real well development took place. After converting the test well to a backup production well, a long-term pumping test was conducted at 225 gallons per minute (324,000 gallons per day) and demonstrated that it would be okay to pump that well at that rate on a sustained basis.

A primary 16-inch diameter, screened sand-and-gravel production well was subsequently installed near the backup well. The long-term pumping test for this well was conducted at 475 gallons per minute (684,000 gallons per day) and the water quality samples sent for laboratory analyses were found to be of excellent quality. The total depth of both wells is approximately 50 feet.

The Joint Water Works' consulting engineer, Dodson & Associate of Schenectady, has been coordinating the HydroSource Associates effort with other water system improvements and is now in the process of obtaining the required permits from the regulatory agencies.

New Groundwater Sources for Natural Bridge, NY

HydroSource Associates, Inc. has successfully completed its project of locating and developing new water sources for Natural Bridge, a small community near Watertown in northern New York. For years, Natural Bridge had been relying primarily on two very shallow, large-diameter dug wells to supply its distribution system which, in turn, served only a portion of the community. Seasonal shortages were experienced and the well sites were susceptible to being contaminated by nearby pollution sources. It was determined that this hamlet needed a reliable source that could produce a sustained yield of 60 gallons per minute on a long-term basis. This would allow for the expansion of the system as well.

As part of a larger program to improve and expand Natural Bridge’s water system, HydroSource conducted its three-phase exploration program. After delineating three separate groundwater Favorable Zones that offered promise of either sand-and-gravel or bedrock wells and conducting geophysical surveys in two of them, test well drilling indicated that while sand-and-gravel wells would be marginal, bedrock wells would provide the desired supply.

HydroSource has developed two bedrock wells. One well has a total depth of 260 feet, is six inches in diameter and has a safe yield of 75 gallons per minute. Nearby, a second well, which can be used as a mechanical backup or alternated in operation with the first well, is 330 feet in total depth and is eight inches in diameter down to 260 feet and six inches in diameter from there to the bottom of the borehole. The safe yield for it is 60 gallons per minute. In an emergency, such as fire, the wells can be operated together at a safe yield of over 100 gallons per minute.

These wells are located in the center of the expanded distribution system, providing substantial development cost savings to tie into the system. Detailed water quality analyses indicate that the water is fully potable and is outstanding in overall quality.

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