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| NEWS - July 27, 2010 |
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Service at Ferguson Road truck fill suspended
Athabasca County looking at possible $70,000 cost to drill deeper well into nearby Amber Valley aquifer |
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Lauren Den Hartog
Advocate Staff
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Service at the Ferguson Road truck fill was suspended earlier this month after issues with water quality at the site.
Ron Jackson, director of Agriculture and Emergency Services for Athabasca County told county council during their public works meeting on Tuesday that he received several calls earlier this month about the quality of water, which he said had deteriorated since the beginning of the year.
According to him, the county began working at the well site in November of 2008
He said the well was drilled to a depth of 70 meters into a fine-grained sand deposit.
Jackson said aquifer tests done by Waterline Resources estimated a theoretical 20-year safe yield of 10.11 L/min (14.56 cubic meters per day), which was a sufficient volume to license and operate the site as a truck fill at an annual diversion rate of 3,318 cubic meters per year (730,000 gallons).
However, the company cautioned that the production of the well was lower than desired and they suggested the well be equipped with a flow restrictor to ensure that the maximum diversion rate was not exceeded.
According to Jackson, the average depth of wells in the region is 24 meters.
He said the cost to tap into a flowing well on the property to the south of the Ferguson Road site was "a littler out of our budget at the time."
The Ferguson Road site, he said, went into production at the end of 2009.
Last month, concern was raised by several landowners, who said that the quality of water at the Ferguson Road site was deteriorating.
The well is equipped with a data logger which allows the county to review the past performance and current status of the groundwater production in the well.
"It's quite evident that the well is not ... drawing back up again," said Jackson.
He said that the aquifer is confined and will eventually recharge.
"This well ... cannot sustain itself," he said.
Waterline Resources has reviewed the previous six months of data and said that the aquifer is likely confined and not capable of sustaining long term discharge.
According to a report handed out during Tuesday's meeting, the theoretical estimates use the file the license application were based on a 48-hour pump test.
Jackson said service has been suspended and that the county is currently looking at possible solutions.
One solution is to drill deeper, into the Amber Valley aquifer.
He said this would require submitting a report to Alberta Environment to amend the county's existing license.
He said the cost to drill down to 116 meters would be approximately $45,000, plus an additional $10,000 to $15,000 for reporting plus materials and labour.
"Bottom line though, if we're going to try and bring this back to life ... we're looking at $70,000," Jackson told council.
If the county decides to go down that road, Jackson said the county has the capacity to run the flow test and to submit information to Alberta Environment.
He said the water quality issues were likely the result of users were sucking up the dregs of the well.
Currently, he said water quality tests are being conducted.
In his report, Jackson recommended hiring a drilling company to deepen the well and to apply to Alberta Environment for a license amendment.
Council also discussed restricting usage to 1-2 days per week. |
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