Up to $11,000 @ 1% Toward Your Well!

Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project, Inc.’s Loan Fund is now able to provide funding for individual household wells due to funding from USDA-Rural Development. Applications are available on the company website at www.SoutheastRCAP.org. We are dedicated to improving the quality of life for low to moderate income persons rural area in the southeast Region (DE,MD,VA,NC,SC,GA, and FL). Qualification: An eligible individual means an Individual who is a member of a household in which all members have a combined income ( for the most recent 12 month period for which the information is available) that is not more than 100% of the median Non-metropolitan household income for the state or territory in which the individual lives.

In most of our service areas, that means around $61,200 per year!

Other restrictions:

Loan recipient must either own or occupy the home or be occupying the home as the purchaser under a legally enforced land purchase contract which is not under default by the seller or the purchaser. The home must be located in a rural area. The water well system may not be used to substitute water service available from collective water systems. The water well system may not be associated with the construction of a new dwelling. Loan recipient must not be suspended or debarred from participation in Federal programs.

Southeast RCAP, Inc. is a private non-profit company and their Well Loan Program is "an effort to help so many of the people who are without water obtain such a necessity."

Please contact Daniel Lawson at 540.345.1184 ext. 135, or Sharon Thomas, Loan Fund Coordinator, ext. 122 for more information.

One in Ten Americans Drink Contaminated Water

According to a New York Times report, 10% of Americans drink water that contains dangerous chemicals or fails to meet a federal health benchmark in other ways. The report found that Charleston, VW, for example, has significant levels of lead, nickel, and other heavy metals, causing- in the worst cases- customers to develop painful rashes and significant loss of tooth enamel. The report also notes wells, both private and public, are often the most dangerous water sources, because they are the least regulated. It should be noted that no distinction was drawn between bored wells, which pull heavily on the water table, and properly constructed drilled wells, which are sealed against surface water. As a water consumer, the bottom line is whether you choose to trust water safety to an outside provider- even the government, or would prefer to take the responsibilty yourself.

"Reverse Osmosis?" You'll never learn ANYTHING that way!

Part one in a series on water filtration.

As a teenager, I remember laying my head on a stack of books when I should have been studying.

When questioned how that might improve my grades, I said I was learning through osmosis.

All that "studying" did not prepare me to understand how Reverse Osmosis works, though...

In osmosis,  a solvent passes through a membrane to try to achieve an equilibrium on both sides of the membrane.  This happens naturally when a red blood cell is submerged in water.  These contain a high concentration of solutes including salts and protein.  Water molecules pass through the cell membrane from an area of low solute concentration (outside the cell) to one of high solute concentration (inside the cell).  The cell membrane is selectively permeable, so only necessary materials are let into the cell.  

Osmotic pressure is the catalyst, and can be increased on the high-solute side of the membrane to force the equilibrium and stop osmosis. This is, apparently, represented in the following formula:

δPV = -RT ln(1-x₂) (2)

Presumably, if you continued to increase the pressure on that side, you will reverse that process, and that is how Reverse Osmosis works:  It actually pulls the water away from the solutes, through a semipermeable membrane, leaving pure, "distilled" water: H2O.  This is usually the last stage in a 2 or 3 stage filtration system, and because it takes a long time to pull water molecules through the membrane, small storage tanks are usually part of the system.  A typical home system will fit in a kitchen cabinet and provide about 10-15 gallons per day, delivered to a tap by the kitchen sink.   

Now, since it has been stripped of all the salts (electrolytes) and minerals the water has no flavor- and some folks say that "no flavor" tastes an awful lot like plastic.  But, if one is really concerned about the quality of your drinking water and is willing to pay the $250-$700 for the system, plus another $150 or so in yearly filter replacements, it is by far the best way to be assured of the quality of your drinking water.

 

Groundwater Primer PLUS- potable vs irrigation

There are two fundamental things I encounter as I speak with potential well owners for the first time- a misconception about what we call 'groundwater', and a a misunderstanding on the difference between an 'irrigation' or a potable water well.

I'll attempt to clear the air on these issues here as clearly and simply as possible.

Individual household water wells are the preferred source of safe drinking water for more than 15 million Americans. If you have a properly constructed, drilled well your water comes from deep in the bedrock and is naturally filtered and should be bacteria free.  In the rregions we service (Southern Appalachia/ Georgia Piedmont), groundwater is located in fractures in consolidated rock.  It occurs as water is slowly pulled through bedrock into cracks and crevices in the rock.  It does not deplete the water table, and, except in extremely rare occasions, will not affect even your nearest neighbor’s well.  

This type of system is one of the safest most reliable drinking water sources available.

As the average person in the US uses around 150 gallons per day, and the average household peak demand less than 10 gallons per minute (gpm), almost any hole in the ground will supply enough water to satisfy an individual's potable water needs.

An irrigation well is essentially a commercial well- the demands of an irrigation system are so much greater than regular home use:

Where a potable water system in a typical Atlanta home may have a peak demand of 8 gpm and average 500 gallons per day, that same residence may have an irrigation system which needs 20 or more gallons per minute and over 20,000 gallons in a single event.  It is as if that one well is being asked to supply 20 or 30 homes.

That same ultra-purified water is pulled out of the bedrock in a much higher volume and at a much faster flow rate.  Bigger pumps running on bigger wire, pushing water through bigger pipe, and controlled by extremely complex equipment make this kind of system work. 

The irrigation system is usually already in place when we construct our wells, and the volume and flow rates don't always operate the same as our high-pressure municipal systems.

Sometimes, these systems are required to pump faster than the ground can yield water, and that deficit has to be made up in reserve- either inside the well or in storage tanks.  It can also be made up in time, and the irrigation system has to be staged to allow the well to recharge its self.  However it is done, these systems can easily double or triple the typical residential user's cost.

A water well is an investment in the commodity of the future.   Well owners have their own private water system which they control.  With proper maintenance, these systems should provide a lifetime of safe, reliable access to pure, fresh water.

Where Will You Get Your Water?

Sinkholes like this have become nearly
epidemic all over the US as old pipes
begin to fail.

As a water professional who has lived in the Metro Atlanta, Georgia area all my life, I’ve developed a sort of unique perspective on local happenings. A few years back, following all our Olympic glory and in the middle of a huge developmental boom, we began to see roads collapsing and washing away all over the city- it seemed like a new incident was broadcast every night on the news. Our 80+ year-old infrastructure was in trouble- and there was no money to fix it.
Mayor Shirley Franklin stepped up and took a bold stance- she became modern America’s first “Infrastructure Mayor”, committing to repair and upgrade the City’s infrastructure in her term of office.

Upset Atlantans protest the proposed
closure of West End Station #7.

By in large, the citizens of the Atlanta got behind her- I mean- it sounded like a good idea, right?
Here’s the problem: it is very expensive, it takes a long time, and it's product is not visible.
So- what sounded like a good idea to everyone back then is becoming a hassle as we attempt to navigate our streets and get frustrated with the constant construction traffic. What sounded great before sounds less and less warm and fuzzy with every fire station that faces closure. Infrastructure, and Mayor Franklin, are becoming less and less popular.

As I write this article, the Georgia Legislature begins its 2009 session with a $2.5 Billion deficit, and Atlanta’s could top $80 Million- one of the largest in the nation. With lawmakers calling for a truly balanced budget, will this be the end of Atlanta's commitment to infrastructure?

There is another way- one I recently wrote about:

Rusty supply lines are one of the biggest
threats to US drinking water.

In Detroit, Michigan, their Mayor recently appointed Victor Mercado, a private water industry tycoon, head of the city’s troubled water works. While the system continues to run down, the city has reduced its repair workload, instead focusing its resources on disconnecting delinquent customers. They disconnected over 40,000 customers last year, and had proposed to double that number this year. Now that number will surely adjust upward in light of new economic stresses on Government and citizens.
Potentially, after 2 year’s time, that city will wake up to find nearly 200,000 households without water coupled with little or no positive action toward a rapidly failing infrastructure.
Running the system down, starving it of capital: these are the kinds of measures we usually see in the corporate world before a “hostile takeover”.
Once a system is too far gone, the citizens will accept any alternative, and government will be happy to get the “hot potato” out of their hands at any cost.

Like roads and bridges, water infrastructure is one of the basic services we believe should be available and provided by government. Without water, a city cannot flourish. Without water, people cannot live. Without government protecting and providing citizens access to this basic need, these Profiteers can and will sell their commodity to the highest bidder, and many hundreds of thousands- even millions- may find their interest taking a back seat to industry, by far the largest and most lucrative consumer of water in the world.

If you think this is not possible- take a look at what the World Bank is already doing in third-world nations all over the globe. Water is now treated as a global commodity, and multinational corporations are buying up the rights to that water as quickly as they can. Water which had, for centuries, completely provided for entire self-sustaining communities is suddenly becoming a luxury which poor families simply cannot afford.

Our American lifestyles are highly dependant on access to a lot of water. But on a level of necessity I see very few issues that could be more important than where our water will come from in the future. If we don’t know the answer to this question, we should begin to understand what is happening to infrastructure around us, and begin looking at all options to protect our own access. We should contact our legislators and let them know that we do not want any infrastructure to be privatized. We should ask them to commit to protect the rights of private citizens to collect water off their own property- including by wells and rain cisterns. We should let them know that we expect them to favor individuals’ access to water over corporate agendas. Water is fundamental to life. Are we really willing to give that up?

Prescription Drugs in Drinking Water?

Americans are living longer and longer. It's all about advancement in medical research, and most of that advancement has to do with pharmaceuticals. We are a pill-popping Nation, and a new study by the Associated Press highlights our drug use is a most unusual way:
They have found a vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans.

It's not that they tested some water supplies and didn't find pharmaceuticals, the study group found these drugs in EVERY test they conducted!

Here are some of the key test results obtained by the AP:

Image courtesy of  Danilo Rizzuti /

FreeDigitalPhotos.net

* Officials in Philadelphia said testing there discovered 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in the city’s watersheds.
* Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people in Southern California.
* Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a Passaic Valley Water Commission drinking water treatment plant, which serves 850,000 people in Northern New Jersey, and found a metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing carbamazepine in drinking water.
* A sex hormone was detected in San Francisco’s drinking water.
* The drinking water for Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas tested positive for six pharmaceuticals.
* Three medications, including an antibiotic, were found in drinking water supplied to Tucson, Ariz.

How could this happen? Its simple:

People take these drugs. They pass through their bodies and are flushed back into the system.
By law, our water treatment plants test and treat bacteria and metals- add chlorine and fluoride, but the federal government doesn’t require any testing and hasn’t set safety limits for drugs in water, and, therefore requires no testing or treatment for these contaminants.

And while researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies — which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public — have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife.

“We recognize it is a growing concern and we’re taking it very seriously,” said Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

So maybe it's not just the hormones in the chickens we eat. Maybe its not only the antibiotics in the beef we eat. Maybe its not the chemical levels in our fruits and vegetables-
Maybe its our water!

Maybe we should think before we drink.