This Newsletter is published quarterly, March, June, September and December by the B.C. Ground Water Association. For more information please contact: Executive Secretary, Joan Perry, 1708 – 197 A Street, Langley, B. C. V2Z 1K2. Phone or Fax: 604-530-8934. BCGWA Website address: www.bcgwa.org BCGWA e.mail address: secretary.bcgwa@shaw.ca ___________________________________________________________________________ President’s Report New provincial ground water regulations are a good beginning to improving and protecting water quality. It’s a good start. There are two more phases that have to be looked at, developed and then implemented, and we are actively working on that with the ground water advisory board. The regulations, developed from the board’s recommendations in partnership with the BCGWA, form an integral part of the government’s Action Plan for Safe Drinking Water and constitute the first time the province has put in place measures to protect ground water. The regulations, which have been approved under the Water Act, are particularly important to Langley Township. Approximately 70,000 of the municipality’s 93,000 residents receive their water from ground water sources and the new rules protect water from the ground to the tap. “We made a ‘new era’ commitment to protect British Columbia’s ground water and to improve the quality and health of our drinking water supplies. We have met that commitment,” says Bill Barisoff, Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection. More that 750,000 British Columbians receive their drinking water from wells and therefore, “we need to ensure ground water is safe, healthy and clean,” Barisoff adds. Wells that are not properly constructed or closed pose a risk of ground water contamination. The new regulations address that risk by establishing standards to ensure wells are properly drilled, sealed, maintained and closed. Certifying drillers and pump installers, and establishing testing methods are key priorities for the board, and I praise this government for implementing the regulations. We have been working with several governments over the years to try and get this legislation in place. I have to hand it to the government because they have really listened to our concerns and have carried the day. The government has mandated qualification requirements for well drillers and pump installers, and the creation of a provincial registry for those qualified persons. The regulations also require wells to be flood-proofed so runoff contamination cannot occur during flooding or heavy rains. An additional requirement is that all community wells are to be identified with a well identification plate. The drinking water measures include: the creation of provincial and 12 regional drinking water officers; a multi-ministry approach to ensure proper integration of water protection measures; additional funding for the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control to meet new microbiological sampling frequency; and a provincial drought management plan. These ground water regulations were requested and developed in partnership with industry and well drillers and pump installers know that protecting ground water resources starts with those who drill the wells. The regulations began in November 2004 and requirements will be phased in within 18 months. Dave Mellis President Taken from Ground Water Canada ***** CanWell 2006 Alan Robison, chairperson for CanWell 2006, writes to invite readers to Canada’s largest forum on ground water: “As chairperson for CanWell 2006, I would like to extend an invitation for you to attend Canada’s national ground water symposium, May 17 to 20, 2006 in beautiful Prince Edward Island. Canada’s smallest province is delighted to be the host for this national conference and we hope there will be a large turnout of delegates. CanWell 2004 was such a great success, and my hat goes off to Bruce Ingimundson and his organizing committee. It will be a very hard act to follow, but I feel we are up for the task ahead of us. The theme we will be building on for the convention is, ‘Bridging Our Industry’ Professionals * Contractors * Suppliers. It is important that all arms of this industry be working in unison to help protect this valuable natural resource, our ground water (our drinking water), not only for our own safety but for the safety of our children and the safety of their children. Continuing to educate the people involved in this industry, by way of technical sessions and demonstrations, is very important and this national symposium is an avenue that can be used to achieve that goal. I must admit when I first received the phone call from Wayne MacRae, back in December of 2003, to inform me that Charlottetown had been chosen as the location for CanWell 2006, I was both elated and terrified all with the span of 30 seconds. Happy we were going to host this event, which I felt was long overdue, but terrified that this event may very well be resting on my shoulders since I was the most likely candidate to spearhead this event. Well, I was right and here I am, as the chairperson, inviting you to come visit Prince Edward Island and see for yourself first-hand how beautiful this island province is and at the same time attend a very informative convention and trade show. May of 2006 seemed so far away at the time of the initial phone call, but now here it is only 13 months away. Where has the time gone? Our committee has been working very hard to make this a very memorable convention and trade show and we hope you enjoy Prince Edward Island enough that you would consider returning again and again. The CanWell committee would like to hear from you if you have any suggestions for technical session presentations. You can e.mail Alan Robison at amrobison@gov.pe.ca. CanWell 2004 was a big event, it was a very informative event and financially it was a very successful event, as you would expect from one of Canada’s largest provinces. What do we expect from the next CanWell which is being held in Canada’s smallest province? ‘THE SAME’. Taken from Ground Water Canada ****** News from Gilles Wendling, Director Technical and Professional Division 2005 Convention We had a very successful convention in the spring with two days of technical presentations. The first day consisted of a workshop given by John Schneiders (Water Systems Engineering Inc.) and Thom Hanna (Johnson Screens), with a series of presentations given covering the following topics: · Biology and chemistry of water wells; · Bacteria growth; · Coliforms and water well disinfections; · Well design and chemical cleaning; · The importance of well development; · Use of polymers in well development; · Testing for rehabilitation and maintenance. This workshop provided excellent and important information. It stressed the importance of properly designing a well and showed how critical development is for the long-term performance and operation of a water well. Here are some key take-home info as a reminder of this workshop: · For every free swimming organism (that you identify in a collected water sample) there are as many as a million bacteria residing in biofilms on screens and on aquifer particles near the well. · Bacteria produce biofilms which protect them from chlorine. · Over use of chlorine can seal off biofilms and produce a food source for the bacteria · Cleaning (development) needs to be a part of disinfections. · Bacteria population doubles every 20 minutes. So when the bacterial population reaches a critical size (e.g., 50% of the pores of your aquifer are clogged), it will not take long before all the pores are clogged! Therefore, it is extremely important to monitor well efficiency and start dealing with the problem (observed reduction in well efficiency) very early. Otherwise if you wait too long, you will be faced with major (costly) rehabilitation work. Maintenance and prevention (regular small rehabilitation) results in lower operation costs (the well being more efficient) and prevents significant costs associated with drastic rehabilitation or well replacement. The presentations given the second day covered various subjects such as the new regulations, global studies conducted in the Okanagan, wellhead protection, use of GPS, water microbiology and groundwater exploration. The presentations are posted on our website (http://www.bcgwa.org/2005_convention.htm). ****** Ground Water Protection Regulation Workshops The BCGWA has received the mandate and funding from the BC Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection to produce material for education on the new Ground Water Protection Regulations (GWPR) and give workshops. Workshops have been given on Vancouver Island (Parksville May 6) and in the Okanagan (Kelowna, June 6). The workshops have mainly targeted the well drillers and water well pump installers, due to the registration requirements for these professionals. The next workshops will take place in the Kootenays (Cranbrook - June 28), in the interior (Prince George) and in the lower mainland. The last two workshops will be given in the fall, at dates still to be defined. So far, the feedback has been very good (nobody fell asleep yet J!) and we encourage you to attend the scheduled workshops. If you missed the workshop in your region, please let us know. We may have a second series coming near you…soon. ****** Information on Rural Wells An education project was started in 2003 in the Comox Valley (lead by a partnership including the Regional District of Comox-Strathcona, BC WLAP and the BCGWA) to inform well owners in rural areas on issues related to well design, maintenance, water quality and aquifers. This work resulted in the production of pamphlets, posters and web pages. The association is now steward of this work. Some great information was developed and is now available on our web site. Go to "Rural Wells" on the main menu or click on the following link: http://www.bcgwa.org/waterwell/index.html. You will see that there is a lot of very practical information available on various pages. The material was produced to be easily reproducible. Please use information available on the web pages. If you are interested by brochures and posters that were produced during this project, please contact me (gwendling@eba.ca). ****** Membership Dues! Please make sure that your membership dues are paid up for 2005. The new membership information will be going to the printers at the end of June so make sure your company name is included. The up-to-date directory is also posted on our web-site. ****** UN Declares International Water Decade – 2005-2015 As Canadians, we take for granted that with the turn of a tap, we will have access to safe and clean water for drinking, cooking and washing. Water is indispensable for human health and it is critical for sustainable development including environmental integrity and the alleviation of poverty and hunger. Each year more than 1 billion of our fellow human beings have little choice but to resort to using potentially harmful sources of water. This perpetuates a crisis that kills some 3,900 children everyday. The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed the years 2005 to 2015 as the International Decade for Action, “Water for Life”, which began with World Water Day, March 22, 2005. The decade between 2005 and 2015 are critical years to focus attention on “Water for Life”. As an integral part of the global water treatment industry, you can have a voice to ensure that attention, energy and commitment is put forward in turning the tide on this international crisis. It will be vital to make 2005 and leading up to 2015, remarkable years in terms of ensuring all of our fellow citizens are aware of the urgency of the goals to be achieved. Here are examples of two Canadian communities that hosted recent World Water Day events: Hamilton’s World Water Day Walkathon The City of Hamilton’s Public Works Department hosted a 5 km Walkathon in celebration of World Water Day on March 22nd. Money was raised to provide a local Rotary Club and their Haiti “Water for Life” Project with the funds to build another well. Approximately 50,000 people in Haiti are now provided with clean, uncontaminated water everyday thanks to the wells built to-date by Rotary International. In recognition of the efforts of Haiti’s children and many more people around the world who have to walk miles for their water, each participant was given a small water bottle when they checked-in at the Steam Museum, Hamilton’s first waterworks built in 1859. When the participant reaches the midpoint, their water bottle will be filled with water for the return walk. CAWST Hosts World Water Day Youth Summit The Centre for Affordable Water & Sanitation Technology (CAWST) in Calgary created an event to stimulate dialogue and individual action in celebration of World Water Day. The goal is to get Calgary’s young people to consider the global problem of water and ways they can work to address this issue. The CAWST organized a forum for youth to learn more about the role of water in health and what communities and individuals can do to have a meaningful, long-term impact. The Water for Life Decade is a unique occasion to highlight the magnitude of this serious problem and to bring all stakeholders and interested individuals together to apply solutions that work. Ray Blumenfeld Water Quality Magazine ****** Coming Events March 2-4, 2006 B.C. Ground Water Association Convention & Trade Show Langley, B. C. Ph/Fax: 604-530-8934 e.mail: secretary.bcgwa@shaw.ca May 17-20, 2006 CanWell 2006 Convention Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island ****** Membership Changes The Manitoba Water Well Association has a new web site. Check them out at www.mwwa.ca Drilling Contractors: Ayre Enterprises PO Box 27084 772 Goldstream Avenue Victoria, B. C. V9B 5S4 Rep: Monte Ayre Ph: 250-474-5627 Fax: 250-474-5627 General Pump & Machine Inc. Box 1429 Parksville, B.C. V9P 2H4 Rep: Wayne Beil Ph: 250-951-0222 Fax: 250-951-0226 Dennis Thompson – e.mail address: thompson@cyberlink.bc.ca In the last Newsletter, I had put in error, Peter Misek as the rep for Van Isle Water Services. The representative for Van Isle is Duncan Haines. My apologies to Peter Misek and Duncan Haines. Associate Members: Richard Bastiaansen Precision Service & Pumps 1254 Riverside Road Abbotsford, B. C. V2S 7P1 Ph: 604-850-7010 Fax: 604-850-9666 Leslie Davenport Source to Tap, Water Management Inc. 1692 Large Avenue Kelowna, B. C. V1P 1L6 Ph: 250-718-8222 Fax: 250-765-3197 Marshall Greenwell Sechelt Plumbing 6621 Reeves Road Sechelt, B. C. V0N 3A8 Ph: 604-885-1929 Fax: 604-885-1901 Kris Mitchell The Pump House #5-241 Puntledge Road Courtenay, B. C. V9N 3P9 Ph: 250-338-8737 Fax: 250-338-7933 Rick Peck The Pump House #5-241 Puntledge Road Courtenay, B. C. V9N 3P9 Ph: 250-338-8737 Fax: 250-338-7933 Doug Prohl Willow Hill Enterprises 8355 Outlook Road Grand Forks, B. C. V0H 1H2 Ph: 250-442-2392 Fax: 250-442-2392 Brandon Smythe Precision Service & Pumps 1254 Riverside Road Abbotsford, B. C. V2S 7P1 Ph: 604-850-7010 Fax: 604-850-9666 ****** Ground Water Protection Regulation Workshop A very successful first workshop was held in Parksville on Vancouver Island for all interested parties on Friday, May 6th. The topic was the Groundwater Protection Regulation, and how it applies to Drillers and pump Installers. Gilles Wendling, and Shelley Bayne of EBA Nanaimo were the presenters. There were 40 in attendance and included Ministry Reps, some system operators, many pump installers, a few well owners, and not enough drillers. Of the 10 drilling contractors in the Vancouver Island region, only 4 were represented. This was somewhat disappointing, but it may be that some of the contractors thought that they had learned enough through the regional meeting in the fall of last year, or through reading the regs. Hopefully we will get better Driller attendance at the next workshop in Kelowna. The experience was very valuable, and even though I had read the regs. and discussed them at length, I picked up quite a few points that I had been unclear about. It is very important that all contractors in the groundwater industry, and especially the drilling contractors have a complete knowledge of the regulations that now dictate how wells must be constructed, protected, capped and closed (abandoned). These regulations apply to environmental, and geotechnical boreholes and wells also. We need to be the experts, so that we can educate the public, well owners, and the people who will come to us for advice. Everyone should try to send at least one representative. The cost of not being up to speed could be very high indeed. Thanks and excellent work Gilles, Shelley and Joan. (and Walter too.) David Slade Vice President ****** “The first Well Identification Plate under the Ground Water Protection Regulation, number 10000, mounted on a single family, domestic water supply well in the District of Highlands, northwest of Victoria.” Photo Credit Bob Brown ****** Using ATMS! A sign in the bank lobby reads: “Please note that this bank is installing new Drive-through teller machines enabling customers to withdraw cash without leaving their vehicles. Customers using this new facility are requested to use the procedures outlined below when accessing their accounts. After months of careful research, MALE & FEMALE procedures have been developed. Please follow the appropriate steps for your gender.” MALE PROCEDURE: 1. Drive up to the cash machine. 2. Put down your car window. 3. Insert card into machine and enter PIN. 4. Enter amount of cash required and withdraw. 5. Retrieve card, cash and receipt. 6. Put window up. 7. Drive off. FEMALE PROCEDURE! 1. Drive up to cash machine. 2. Reverse and back up the required amount to align car window with the machine. 3. Set parking brake, put the window down. 4. Find handbag, remove all contents on to passenger seat to locate card. 5. Tell person on cell phone you will call them back and hang up. 6. Attempt to insert card into machine. 7. Open car door to allow easier access to machine due to its excessive distance from the car. 8. Insert card. 9. Re-insert card the right way. 10.Dig through handbag to find diary with your PIN written on the inside back page. 11.Enter PIN. 12.Press cancel and re-enter correct PIN. 13.Enter amount of cash required. 14.Check makeup in rear view mirror. 15.Retrieve cash and receipt. 16.Empty handbag again to locate wallet and place cash inside. 17.Write debit amount in check register and place receipt in back of checkbook. 18.Re-check make-up. 19.Drive forward 2 feet. 20.Reverse back to cash machine. 21.Retrieve card. 22.Re-empty hand bag, locate card holder, and place card into the slot provided. 23.Give appropriate look at the irate male driver waiting behind you. 24.Restart stalled engine and pull off. 25.Redial person on cell phone. 26.Drive for 2 to 3 miles. 27.Release parking brake. ****** Disposal Wells Penetrating Groundwater Aquifers I have been leading a crusade against the practice of using groundwater wells to get rid of unwanted surface water. The Ground Water Advisory Board responded to my concerns with a reference to The Water Act, Sect 79, Part 5. Which states that “A person must not introduce, allow to be introduced or cause to be introduced any of the following into a well”. It then goes on to describe all manner of waste, and substances which could cause a significant adverse impact on the quality of ground water in the well. It also talks about who might be held responsible for such wells if they are deemed to be likely to cause a “significant adverse impact”. The act does finally say in Part 7 that if operation of a well may result in “harm or damage to ground water in the aquifer” the comptroller or the regional water manager may authorize remedial work at the expense of the person(s) deemed responsible for the problem. The questions it seems to me are: Who is going to decide if a disposal well poses a threat to an aquifer, when common sense suggests that any disposal well which penetrates an aquifer poses a threat to aquifer quality? And who is going to be deemed responsible in the eyes of the law (regional manager or comptroller) to pay the cost of plugging such wells or pre-treating the water? Will it be the engineer who designed the wells, the owner of the well, or the driller who installed the wells at the direction of the owner and the engineer? The use of disposal wells is a real problem which threatens aquifers in BC, and the livelihood of those of us who earn a living from this resource. I believe that they should be tightly regulated or stopped altogether, and that existing disposal wells should be permanently closed. If anyone knows of disposal wells in your area, you may want to bring them to the attention of the regional manager of the Ministry of Water Land and Air Protection. David Slade Vice President ****** Ryan’s Foundation We’re going to wrap up our Ryan’s Foundation Challenge. There are still however, a few challenges left. Golder Associates has challenged other executives of the BCGWA to coerce their companies to kick in a little. They are donating $50.00 and would like to see that amount matched or beaten. PSI Pump Systems Inc. has met this challenge and will also donate $50.00. The B.C. Ground Water Association will be matching Manitoba’s donation of $200.00 and beating it by $100.00. So far we have raised $535.00. Thank you David Slade for presenting this challenge to our members. ******