(WTNH) — The dry weather has been tough for people who use well water. Wells all over Connecticut are drying up because of the drought.
Richard Hallet owns Water Dr. LLC in Ansonia. He has been busy this summer. On Wednesday he was working on a well at a house in Southbury. The family of four that lives there uses more than 200 gallons of water per day, but these days their well is only giving them about 90 gallons per day.
“They’ll open the faucet and nothing will come out, so then they’ve got to wait, wait, wait. Then they can do whatever, take a shower,” said Hallet.
Hallet says people don’t usually know that their well is getting low until it dries up. Though conserving water will help, it’s not something that can be prevented. Some areas have more water problems than others. It can depend on what street you live on, not necessarily which town.
“I could have a fracture inside my well that allows water to come in faster, bigger holes that allow water to come in,” said Matthew McCoy, Hallet’s apprentice.
The cap on the family’s well will be replaced, which will help keep the water clean. They’ll also be getting a new pump, since the drought has taken a toll on those too. They start at around $1,500.
“They’ll run the water and think they have all the water in the world, but their pump is sitting and spinning with no water,” said Hallet. “They’re burning the motors on the pumps out.”
The next step for the family’s well is hydro fracking. It’s not cheap – it usually costs around $3,000.
However, it may get the well working again.
“They’re going to pump water pressure in, and what the water pressure is going to do is it’s going to break open the rock and put more fractures in it. Maybe more water at lower levels could come in,” said Hallet.
