THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 25, 1995 TAG: 9511220425
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANET DUNPHY, SPECIAL TO REAL ESTATE WEEKLY
LENGTH: Long : 120 lines
Virginia Beach residents, eager to keep their lawns looking good or seeking good drinking water, are keeping well contractors busy as autumn draws to a close.
Water restrictions have led to a growing dependence on wells. Contractors say most of their drilling is for ``petunia wells,'' a nickname city officials have given to wells used for watering lawns. Both old and new neighborhoods rely on well water for drinking and household use because they aren't hooked up to city water.
Some residents are also replacing wells that appear to have gone dry. ``Periodically that happens here in Virginia Beach,'' says Skip Scanlon, environmental health manager for the City Health Department. More than likely, he says, the well hasn't actually gone dry - the water table has dropped.
``The water table pulses,'' says Scanlon. It rises and falls during the year. ``It's not just a hole full of water.'' .
``Unless a well is extremely shallow, like less than 20 feet, it doesn't really go dry,'' says Pat Mimms, owner of Atlantic Well and Pump Service. Rainfall recharges the aquifer over time and raises the water table.
``There seems to be a need for converting shallow well systems to deeper wells,'' says Roy Burton of Burton Well Drilling. ``There seems to be plenty of water available.''
Different factors cause well problems to recur. Ten years ago a task force was convened to study private well failures in the Lynnhaven borough, particularly around Great Neck and Little Neck.
``The task force concluded that extremely low groundwater levels, which caused the well failures, were the result of drought conditions and increased groundwater withdrawals,'' report says.
The report went on to say that the failed wells used shallow well pumps that could not function when the groundwater levels dropped. It also cited the major sources of groundwater withdrawals in the area: landscape irrigation and lawn watering, private domestic use in lieu of city water, and the discharge from water-to-air heat pumps.
Today, homeowners are paying $1,000 to $3,000 for wells, depending on the depth and type of pump system. Pinpointing an average depth for new wells is difficult because situations vary. Some contractors say they are drilling 25 to 180 feet while others report drilling mostly in the 70- to 90-foot range.
The most commonly installed systems are deep-well ejectors and submersibles. Ejectors are used in two-inch diameter wells and push the water to the surface aided by an above-ground pump. They are half the cost of a submersible. With that system both the motor and pump are inside a four-inch well, which Scanlon says is the maximum size a homeowner should need.
Several wells in the Baylake Pines neighborhood have gone ``dry'' recently. Resident Bill Ballard replaced a seven-year-old, 50-foot well for $975. ``I had plenty of water in April and May and then when the watering season came in in June I couldn't get any water,'' explains Ballard, who hired Bayside Well and Pump Service. Ballard was told that the water lever was down 17 feet at the time.
Fred Moore in Thoroughgood just had his third well installed. Moore, who isn't connected to city water, says the water pressure was down so much from the low water table that he could only get two gallons of water a minute. Now he gets 15.
``There's very little iron or acid and no salt, of course. It's almost perfect water,'' says Moore. The first wells were 60 feet and 35 feet in the front yard; the new one is 130 feet in the backyard. Moore contracted Gildersleeve Pump and Well and paid about $3,000, including a water softening system.
Saltwater intrusion as well as high chlorine and iron levels can also cause problems in wells. Great Neck, Little Neck, Witchduck, Glenwood and Chesapeake are some areas that have experienced those problems.
The city began requiring well permits in 1990. About 2,600 well permits have been issued this year, according to Scanlon, and 27 percent of those were for drinking water. More than 3,200 permits were issued in 1994; 11 percent were for drinking water. The number of permits issued in 1993 was 2,454 with 7 percent for drinking water.
``What you're seeing is the dependency on wells increasing for developers,'' says Scanlon. The Virginia Beach City Council adopted an ordinance in February 1992 declaring a water supply emergency and restricting connections to the public water system pending completion of the Lake Gaston pipeline. Properties that were already approved were allowed to connect.
``It's very difficult for builders and developers,'' says Scanlon. ``They have to jump through so many hoops. It's also difficult on existing localities as well as the pool industry, the green industry, sprinkler companies and so on. Everyone is impacted.''
Ultimately, additional costs are being passed on to homeowners, prospective homeowners and renters. Mike Gildersleeve of Gildersleeve Pump and Well says the $50 bacteria test for a drinking water well permit is a good example of trickle down costs.
``The big thing that is so much more difficult than it used to be is the permitting process,'' he says.
But the obstacles aren't slowing many homeowners down. Betty McWilliams didn't have any reservations about putting in a well to provide water for a swimming pool. ``I budgeted for it,'' says McWilliams, who lives in the Great Neck area and spent $1,400 on her well.
David Perry bought a new house in Courthouse Estates and recently spent $1,000 in a well for lawn watering. ``When you're investing in your yard it's worth it,'' he sayd. ``You're just using water the good Lord provided.''
Obtaining a permit is the first step for anyone who plans to put in a well. Replacement of an existing well doesn't require a permit if the homeowner can show that the previous well was properly abandoned.
The permit costs $40 and is divided into two categories, Class 3 for drinking water wells and Class 4 for lawn watering wells and industries that depend on water, such as a car wash or a greenhouse. A regular permit, which is used for a site with an existing septic system, is issued after someone from Scanlon's office does a site evaluation and actually tells the contractor where to drill.
It can take four to six weeks to get a regular permit and the contractor often applies for it on behalf of the owner.
An express permit, developed to speed up the process, can be obtained for a site that has never had a septic system. Used only in Class 4 cases, signatures from both the contractor and owner are required and Scanlon's office inspects the work after it is complete.
The homeowner assumes a risk drilling under an express permit. If the post-drill inspection reveals any problems, the well may have to be abandoned, says Scanlon. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover by Richard L. Dunston, The Virginian-Pilot
Dennis Allen, assisted here by his fiance, Kim Golden, runs a
well-drilling company in Virginia Beach.
by CNB