WEST MONTROSE WATER SUPPLY- PUBLIC INFORMATION CENTRE

Yesterday's Woolwich Observer carried this Public Notice. The meeting will be held on Tuesday September 18/12 5-7pm. at Conestogo Public School on Sawmill Rd. in the village of Conestogo. Currently their water supply is derived from four river wells also known as infiltration wells. The good news with wells of this sort is that while relatively shallow they rarely go dry as they are constantly being recharged (infiltrated) by the river itself. The problem arises with quality issues. A pure dug or drilled well through sand and gravel only draws groundwater into itself and the groundwater is prefiltered by the sand and gravel. A river well on the other hand is drawing both groundwater as well as surface water from the river (Grand). Often this water is reasonably clean however in agricultural areas there are greater opportunities for cryptosporidium and guardia etc. These nasty bugs are courtesy of cattle and other critters upstream using the river and floodplain as their toilets.

Overall the water table is very high in the West Montrose area enabling individual use of shallow wells. Indeed the decade myself and my family lived in West Montrose we had four families using a spring box as our entire water supply. The spring box was about four feet square by three feet deep and was fed by shallow groundwater. For a larger more secure water supply even in drought periods a deeper drilled well further from the river is probably the best bet. That scenario would also reduce treatment costs of the water as well.