Comments on PW Digital Gateway and Comp Plan Changes

The streams, rivers and groundwater in the Occoquan Watershed in Prince William County are at risk of degradation from PW Digital Gateway,  and the land use and zoning changes in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update.  As demand for local lands and resources increases and landowners seek to maximize the sale value of their land, developers look to create massive industrial development in the Rural Crescent where there is inadequate road systems, no stormwater infrastructure, no public water supply, no available source for cooling water supply, no sewage, etc.  

This development in the northern portion of the Rural Crescent threatens the health of the Occoquan watershed and the very sustainability and affordability of the drinking water supply for Northern Virginia. When an undeveloped or generally open rural area is developed stormwater runoff increases in quantity and velocity washing away stream banks, flooding roads and buildings carrying fertilizers, oil and grease, and road salt to the Occoquan Reservoir.

Increased development in the Bull Run and Occoquan watershed as outlined in the PW Digital Gateway CPA, the 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update will increase paved surfaces and runoff and decreased forested and agricultural land. The result will be increase salinity and chemical and sediment contamination.

The salinity in the reservoir has been rising over time and may be reaching a critical stage.  The rising salt in the reservoir is primarily from watershed runoff during wet weather and reclaimed water from UOSA during dry weather. Sodium concentration in the reclaimed water is higher than in outflow from the two watersheds right now and will rise with the increase in blowdown from data center cooling and increased population density. However, increasing paved areas increases the salt runoff into the watershed.

The only way to remove salt from the drinking water supply is to invest billions of dollars (from your water rates) in building and installing desalination equipment in the region’s water treatment plants which are not currently capable of removing salt from the source water. There is no other source of water to supply our area. The costs to add treatment lines at Fairfax Water to keep the Occoquan Potable is estimated to cost between $1 and $2 billion. This is a cost that will be borne by the water rate payers including the 350,000 in Prince William County.

Prince William County did not even consider the impact of the proposed changes to the quality, availability and sustainability water supply as they are required to do under the Comprehensive Plan law. Before we do irreversible harm to the ecology and our regional drinking water supply, we need to look at what the impacts of planned changes will be to the water supply.

Fairfax Water has taken the unusual step to ask that Prince William County convene the Occoquan Basin Policy Board and oversee a Comprehensive Study of the proposed PW Digital Gateway CPA and the 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update to evaluate their impact on water quality in the Occoquan Reservoir before any action is taken. The cost to restore the basin and treat the water is in the billions of dollars that will be borne by us, the residents who remain.

The Occoquan Watershed Model was developed over decades to evaluate the impact of land use decisions and compare potential land use scenarios and their impact on the Occoquan Reservoir water quality. Prince William County helped pay for the creation of that model, yet did not use it to evaluate the wholesale change in the land use of the county. 

Prince William County failed also to consider the impact of the proposed zoning changes to the quality, availability and sustainability of the water supply as they are required to do under the Comprehensive Plan law.   Nor did they consider the impact on meeting goals for the Chesapeake Bay pollution diet.

California Water Use

from the CA Department of Water

Every five years the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) compiles and publishes national water-use estimates for each state and the United States as a whole. Over time these snapshots of water use can identify trends within the states. In response to the severe drought in California, the worst in modern records, the USGS has released the 2010 water-use estimates for California early- ahead of the other states. These water-use estimates are important to state regulators and water managers who use the data as inputs to their hydrologic models that they use for water resource planning and management. The water use estimates combined with the hydrologic models can help water managers, regulators and elected officials assess the changing demographics, land use, irrigation practices, climate, and water availability impact water use and the economy of the state. So, hot off the presses here is what the 2010 data shows.

Total waster use in California fell from 2005 to 2010. According to the USGS, 38 billion gallons per day (42,000,000 acre-feet per year) of water were withdrawn from groundwater and surface-water sources in 2010 while 46 billion gallons per day (52,000,000 acre-feet per year) in 2005. Overall, water use in California decreased by 17%. In 2010, Californians withdrew an estimated total of 38 billion gallons per day (42,000,000 acre-feet per year), 25 billion gallons per day (28,000,000 acre-feet per year or 67%) were supplied by surface water and 13 billion gallons per day (15,000,000 acre-feet per year or 33%) was supplied by groundwater. In 2005 35 billion gallons per day (39,000,000 acre-feet per year or 76%) was supplied by surface water and 11 billion gallons (12,000,000 acre-feet per year or 24%) was supplied by groundwater. California has increased their dependence on groundwater between the two dates, but that could have been caused by the lingering effects of the 2007-2009 drought. In California 2005 was in the middle of the last wet period.

from USGS

The California drought of 2007-2009 was ending in 2010, however while most farmers in the Central Valley got their full federal water allotment that year, the west side of the San Joaquin Valley did not receive full water allocations. The state water project allocation remained well below normal that year. At the time the state officials attributed the reduction in a wet year to strict pumping curbs in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, to protect salmon and smelt populations, and because Oroville has been slower to refill than some other reservoirs. The increased use of groundwater between 2005 and 2010 could be a trend or it could simply be that groundwater was used to make up the shortfall by the farmers in the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. The variations in rainfall that California experiences allow the state to struggle from wet period to wet period without planning for the future.

from USGS

A significant portion of the 17% reduction in daily water use between 2005 and 2010 was from a reduction in thermoelectric water use. Only about 82% of water withdrawals, or 31 billion gallons a day in 2010 were fresh water, the rest was saline water. In California 95% of saline water withdrawals are used for thermoelectric generation (most of the rest for aquaculture). In 2005 72% of water withdrawals or 33 billion gallons a day were freshwater. Thus, from 2005 to 2010 freshwater use fell 6% in California. In both 2005 and 2010, about 74% of all fresh water withdrawals were for irrigation so most of the reduction in freshwater withdrawals was in irrigation allocations and probably an increase in water reuse in urban centers.

The 38 billion gallons per day (42,000,000 acre-feet per year) of withdrawals in 2010 were distributed among eight categories:

• Irrigation: 61% (23,000 million gallons per day, or 26,000,000 acre-feet per year).
• Thermoelectric power generation: 17% (6,600 million gallons per day, or 7,400,000 acre-feet per year). This water is saline and not usable for irrigation or consumption.
• Public supply: 17% (6,300 million gallons per day, or 7,100,000 acre-feet per year). Average daily gross per capita use was 181 gallons, this is very high individual use probably attributed to outdoor use- watering all those suburban lawns.
• Aquaculture: 3% (970 million gallons per day, or 1,100,000 acre-feet per year).
• Industrial:  1% (400 million gallons per day, or 450,000 acre-feet per year).
• Mining: 0.5% (270 million gallons per day, or 300,000 acre-feet per year).
• Livestock: 0.5% (190 million gallons per day, or 210,000 acre-feet per year).
• Self-supplied domestic use: < 0.5% (170 million gallons per day, or 190,000 acre-feet per year). Average daily per capita use was 69 gallons. This number is in line with per capita use in Virginia in 2005 and may only reflect that you do not water your lawn off your well. 

In California an arid state, average daily use of water by individuals on public supply is 181 gallons a day. This is more than two and a half times the per capita use for those on private wells and in places like Virginia. This use has to be for exterior water use, watering gardens and lawns. The watering restrictions in place for the current drought are attempting to address this area. However, in California 74% of fresh water is used for agricultural irrigation. Without irrigation, crops could never be grown in the arid and semi-arid lands of California where agriculture is a $45 billion dollar industry, subsidized by cheap water. Let’s hope that the USGS data can help California manage their water into the future.

Great Nations have 24/7 Water

In the news recently was a rather spectacular water main break in Los Angeles. It made the national news because California is in the throes of the worst drought in recorded history and the image of 50 million gallons of wasted drinking water was new worthy. What did not make the news were water main failures in Washington DC, Maryland or elsewhere. There are about 240,000 water main failures annually in the United States- almost 660 water mains break a day. These water main failures disrupt traffic and are expensive to fix, but also pose a health hazard. The positive pressure in water pipes is what keeps bacteria from the failing and leaking sewer systems out of the failing and leaking water pipes. Clean water and water water pipes were generally run together in our cities and suburbs are crumbling and contributing to disease outbreaks and water supply disruptions.The National Institute of Health (NIH) believes that 36,700 infections and 18,400 illnesses occur each year due to contamination in public water systems; 2,200 infections and 1,100 illnesses occur each year from private wells.

The last U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment was done in 2011 and released in 2013. The survey showed that $384 billion in improvements are needed for the nation’s drinking water infrastructure through 2030 for systems to continue providing safe unlimited drinking water 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week to the 297 million Americans who depend on them. (It is estimated that 16 million households depend on private water supplies. Getting households to properly test and maintain their wells and septic systems is also a problem.)

The lion’s share of the costs estimated by the EPA is for treatment ($72.5 billion to expand or rehabilitate infrastructure to reduce contamination) and distribution ($247.5 billion to replace or refurbish aging or deteriorating water mains). The water bill that most pay barely covers the cost of delivering the water and essential repairs for all those water main failures. There seems to be significant resistance to increasing water bills to pay the true cost of water and the system to deliver that water. As a matter of fact there were public protests over having to pay delinquent water bills in Detroit this summer. Protestors claimed clean water as a right that should be free.

In Charleston, West Virginia and Toledo, Ohio the entire cities were without water when the treatment plant could not treat the source water for an “unexpected” contaminant. The first steps towards a clean water supply and public health was to disinfect drinking water in the cities (and develop sewer systems). Treating drinking water with either Chloramine or chlorine lowered microbial densities of coliform bacteria, heterotrophic bacteria, Legionella bacteria preventing disease and death. However, these bacteria and the other substances on the primary drinking water list are not the whole story, nor are they the only substances in our water today. Our water treatment plants should be more robust as more and more contaminants begin to appear in our national water supplies. Our modern world is filled with chemicals, they exist in pharmaceuticals, household products, personal care products, plastics, pesticides, industrial chemicals, human and animal waste; they are in short, all around us. These chemicals include organics, inorganic, polymers, and UVCBs (chemical substances of Unknown or Variable composition, Complex reaction products, and Biological materials).

All the water on Earth has been here since shortly after the earth was formed 4.5 billion years ago (or so). There is no mechanism on Earth for creating or destroying large quantities of water, the water here continually cycles through the water cycle. The water we’ve got is what's been here, literally, forever and contaminants are building up. In their study of surface water used for drinking water supplies the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) found a diverse group of contaminants in the source water used by our cities and towns. The concentrations were low, but the contaminants were ubiquitous. This would indicate a variety of different sources and pathways for these contaminants to reach our drinking water supplies. The concentrations were low, (about 95% of the concentrations were less than one-part per billion); nonetheless, the most commonly detected contaminants in source water were generally detected in finished drinking water at about the same frequency and concentration. Our drinking water treatment systems do not remove these contaminants and we need to change that.

The USGS found that as the amount of urban and agricultural lands increased within the water shed, the numbers of contaminants in the rivers also increased. Rivers receiving municipal and industrial discharge, as well as discharges from other point and non-point sources from stormwater runoff are impacted by man-made organic contaminants, most of which are unregulated. Only about 40 of the 260 substances the USGS tested for are regulated the rest are unregulated. The USGS groundwater testing was a little better. It found trace levels of an herbicide (atrazine or simazine) or an herbicide degradate (deethylatrazine), and the solvents perchlorethene or trichloroethene widely distributed in samples from shallow unconfined aquifers without a confining geological layer, though the deeper confined groundwater aquifers remained mostly free of man-made contamination. Only about 1% of the groundwater tested had 10 contaminants detected at concentrations greater than human-health recommended levels. Groundwater remains cleaner than surface water for now.

USGS led research published in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment this summer found two fish species, smallmouth bass and white sucker, exhibiting intersex characteristics (male fish with immature eggs) caused by hormones and hormone-mimicking compounds. Intersex fish have been found in Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna, Delaware and Ohio River basins, indicating that the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals are more widespread than previously known. Previously, sampling within the Chesapeake Bay watershed found signs of reproductive endocrine disruption in the Potomac River basin. Our regional drinking water comes from the Potomac River. Our water treatment plants do not address these contaminants. Our water treatment systems are taken for granted and forgotten. We as a nation need to continually improve and maintain our water infrastructure. However, we do not seem to have the discipline or political will to do it.

As an alternative to maintaining and improving our water treatment and distribution system, a recent article in the New Scientist magazine by Naomi Lubick suggests that the future of water is “off-grid” water treatment where homes and businesses would do the final finishing of the water. The failing water systems in our cities would continue to deliver water in the volumes we demand or when the system has supplies and the water mains are functional and local final treatment would bring it up to drinking water standards. This local treatment would happen in buildings with self-contained treatment systems or suburban neighborhoods that would also have local treatment systems. This is a frightening suggestion. What would evolve from that plan is a better and safer water supply for the affluent who could afford to live in buildings and gated communities with advanced water storage and treatment systems while others would have an inferior system as the main supply system deteriorated. Welcome to the future of water in America-life in India.

This image is actually from Peru

Toxic bacteria Cut Off Water in Toledo

On Saturday, August 2, 2014 routine water testing at the Collins Park Water Treatment Plant in Toledo, Ohio had two samples test positive for microcystin at concentrations higher than the standard of 1 microgram per liter for potable water. A “Do Not Drink” order was issued for the city and the residents were without drinkable tap water. On day three the drinking water from Toledo’s Collins Park Water Treatment Plant was declared safe to drink, and life returned to normal in Toledo, Ohio, but is the new normal safe drinking water most of the time.

Microcystine or cyanobacteria is a toxin produced by microcystis, a type of blue-green algae that spreads in the summer algae bloom. These algae blooms are called dead zones and according to a 2013 Canadian and U.S. International Joint Commission report algae blooms had almost disappeared by the end of the 20th century, but there has been a recurrence with some of the worst algae blooms seen in the lake occurring in the last six to eight years. In 2011, the largest mass on record formed in the lake's western basin, eventually reaching more than 100 miles from Toledo to Cleveland, Ohio. That 2013 report stated that urgent steps are needed to curb runaway algae before the toxicity associated with these newer algae blooms impacts water supplies and affects human health, animal health. Last year this was thought to be an extreme scenario.

Dead zones form in summers when higher temperatures reduce the oxygen holding capacity of the water, the air is still and especially in years of heavy rains that carry excess nutrient pollution from cities and farms. The excess nutrient pollution combined with mild weather encourages the explosive growth of algae fed by excessive nutrient pollution. While the algae produces oxygen during photosynthesis, when there is excessive growth of algae the light is chocked out and the algae die and fall from the warmer top layers to the colder depths. The algae are decomposed by bacteria, which consumes the already depleted oxygen in the lower cooler level, leaving dead fish in their wake. Only certain species of blue-green algae form the toxin, for reasons that aren't fully understood. Toxic bacteria were not a problem until the 21st century, though algae blooms have been a problem on Lake Erie for over half a century.

The dead zones in the 1970’s were caused by the release of phosphorus in (what we would consider) partially treated sewage being released into the lake by waste water treatment plants along its shores. Stronger regulations on waste water treatment plants under the Clean Water Act seemed to alleviate that problem to a large extent. However, in the 1980’s the ecology of the Great Lakes began to change, invasive zebra and quagga mussels have disrupted the aquatic food chain and replaced native species. These invaders consume the beneficial types of algae, while rejecting harmful blue-green algae.

The algae blooms are now fed by a wider source of phosphorus. According to the 2013 report different sources of phosphorus runoff have emerged: farms, where manure and other fertilizers are washed into tributary rivers during storms and snowmelt, suburban lawns, septic systems, city streets and parking lots. Though combined municipal sewage systems are still a big contributor to nutrient pollution particularly the Detroit treatment plant, which discharges into the Detroit River a Lake Erie tributary. The nutrient pollution in the Maumee River, which drains agricultural areas of northwestern Ohio and flows into Lake Erie at Toledo, is believed to be agricultural in origin.

In the winter of 2012 The Ohio state Environmental Protection Agency issued two extremely critical reports about the condition of Toledo’s Collins Park Water Treatment plant, which spells out concerns about the system having an "unacceptable risk of system failure." According to a report in the Toledo News Now the Ohio EPA report identified several areas of regulatory non-compliance and significant deficiencies of Toledo's Collins Park water treatment plant. The most serious is what the Ohio EPA calls a "lack of reliability due to age and condition of essential equipment, such as pumps, check valves, impellers and electrical equipment."

Despite constant reminders of the vulnerability of our drinking water supply to contamination of the source water, failure of the treatment and distribution system failures, we have barely thought twice about our water and have taken for granted the capital investment made by previous generations. The water bill that most pay barely covers the cost of delivering the water and some repairs and there seems to be significant resistance to increasing water bills to pay the true cost of water and the systems needed to deliver that water. No infrastructure lasts forever and we have failed to properly maintain and plan for the orderly replacement of the water distribution systems in most places. The water distribution systems in most of our big cities and many of our older suburbs have reached the end of their useful life and water mains are failing at an ever increasing rate. As documented both by this survey and the AWWA, report: “Buried No Longer: Confronting America ’s Water Infrastructure Challenge” the need to replace or rebuild the pipe networks that deliver water comes on top of other water investment needs, such as the need to replace water treatment plants, upgrade treatment technology to respond to emerging contaminants in our raw water supplies, replace storage tanks and on-going monitoring and compliance costs.

Life returning to “normal” is not good enough, the algae bloom is still floating on the lake, but for the moment the Toledo intake is clear. The United States has had one of the finest and safest drinking water supply systems in the world. To keep 42/7 on demand safe water, we need to invest in the system for our future and protect our ecosystem.

Tough Choices Need to be Made in California

President Obama visited California last week appearing in Fresno, California in the heart of California’s agricultural central valley. California produces almost 18 % of all U. S. crops and 7 % of livestock and livestock products (by revenue). In addition, California produces about half of U.S. grown fruits, nuts, and vegetables, several of the crops are currently only grown in California. In the central valley of California three crops a year can be grown and crop production is only limited by the amount of water delivered for irrigation. To make up shortfalls in annual water allocations farmers have for generations pumped groundwater- unsustainably. So much water has been pumped that the land above the aquifer in the central valley has subsided and can never recover. The water level in these aquifers has fallen hundreds of feet in the past few generations. Nonetheless farmers continue to plant almond trees and fruit trees that require year round irrigation in wet years and dry years.

After viewing the impact of the worst drought since the 1970’s on the community the President gave a speech where he called for the creation of a $1 billion climate change fund to research the projected effects of climate change and helping Americans prepare with new technology and infrastructure. That is unlikely to increase rainfall in California which already has the largest water storage and transportation system in the world. With 1,200 miles of canals and nearly 50 reservoirs, in an “average” year the system captures enough water to irrigate about four million acres and provide water to the almost 38 million residents of the state. Even with all this water management California is at the limit of their water resources, and without enough rain and snow in the Sierra Mountains there is simply not enough water.

In the meantime, Governor Jerry Brown has declared a drought emergency and called for voluntarily water conservation, and is using the drought crisis to move forward a proposal to drill two 35 mile, highway-sized water tunnels beneath the California Delta. This project is estimated to cost at least $25 billion (though the Bay Bridge ended up costing multiples of the original estimate) and California has struggled with multibillion dollar budget deficits in recent years, saved by drastic cuts by Governor Brown and a surge in IPO (initial public offering) and technology and other capital gains. The water tunnel plan is opposed by environmentalists who say it will all but destroy Delta estuary and the agricultural community is reported to be divided on the water tunnels.

Environmentalists say the tunnel project would suck more water from the already fragile delta, the hub of the state's water-delivery system. Critics of the proposal say it would further harm the delta's fisheries, increase the cost of water and devastate the agricultural economy by lowering river levels and allowing salt water from the San Francisco Bay to invade. In addition, these tunnels would not sure up the aging infrastructure of the existing water infrastructure.

After three years of below-normal rainfall, California looks to be facing its most severe drought in decades and needs to face some harsh water truths. Neither studying climate, moderating greenhouse gases change or by passing the Delta add more water to California. Something fundamental has to change. To change the fundamental water equation in California where agriculture uses between 75%-80% of water the Pacific Institute who has studied this issue extensively recommends that of 1.3 million acres of impaired lands in the Central Valley be removed from irrigation and agricultural use. This land which is already impaired represents less than 5% of the agricultural land in California, but would save 3.9 million acre-feet of water per year, while also reducing polluted surface water runoff and impacts to groundwater. This water savings represents 9% of the water used in California and is equal to two thirds of the total water used for urban residential use.

Removing these lands from agricultural production is not going to happen without government action and disruption of lives. Something similar has happened in Canada. As reported in the Wall Street Journal on Saturday, the fishing industry in Newfoundland has been disappearing for a quarter of a century. In the late 1980s, the industry employed around 13% of the province's workers. Today the fish industry employs only 3% of the province’s workers. Over fishing and poor ecological management caused the fish stocks plummet and the Canadian government put a moratorium on cod fishing about 20 years ago. Despite the moratorium on fishing, the cod population has not recovered and the way of life for those fishing communities is gone. According to the provincial government about 28,000 people relocated between 1954 and 1975 for better jobs and lives.

Sixty years ago, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador began offering its shrinking communities money to close down and move on to eliminate the need to provide utilities and community services to the shrinking and dying towns. After a nearly four-decade lull, the number of communities seeking resettlement has picked up, as the older generation fades and the government has raised the value of its offers. Though ending a way of life, is sad, the cod stocks could no longer support these communities or their way of life, through mismanagement and lack of planning. The water in California can no longer support all the farm communities every year.

What to Do About Maintaining and Fixing Your Well

Here in Prince William County information on all private wells drilled in the county after 1977 are in the files of the Prince William County Health District. Other counties should have similar records, though they may not go back as far. Virginia adopted statewide regulations on well construction in 1992 which conformed fairly closely to the PW County regulations and require filing of information on the well. The “Water Well Completion Report” can tell you the age of the well, the depth of the well and casing, the approximate water zones and the yield at completion.

While many wells will last decades, it is reported that 20 years is the average age of well failure that is well failure, not pump failure. Well casings are subject to corrosion, pitting and perforation. According to Marcus Haynes of the PW Health District the effective yield from a well can fall 40-50% or more over 20-30 years, so a low yielding well might have an effective life of only 25 years. The mechanical components of a well; however, are usually the first to fail and some components fail much sooner. Some kind of equipment failure usually occurs in the first 10-20 years.

The essential components of a modern drilled well system are: a submersible pump, a check valve (and additional valve every 100 feet), a pitless adaptor, a well cap, electrical wiring including a control box, pressure switch, and interior water delivery system. There are additional fittings and cut-off switches for system protection, but the above are the basics. To keep the home supplied with water the system and well must remain operational.

To ensure water reaches the tap, the well system within the house must also function. The components within the basement provide consistent water pressure at the fixtures. The pump moves water to the basement water pressure tank, inside the tank is an air bladder that becomes compressed as water is pumped in. The pressure tank moves the water through the house pipes so that the pump does not have to run every time you open a faucet. The pressure tank maintains the water pressure between 40-60 psi. After the pressure drops to 40 psi, the switch turns on the pump and the pressure in the tank increases. Each component can break or fail.

Submersible pumps used in modern drilled wells are more efficient than older style jet pumps and should last longer, but silt, sand, algae and excessive mineral content can impact their life. There really is not good data on equipment life in private well market, most of the data is from light industrial and community systems and the life of the single family home pump is extrapolated from that and equipment tests. A submersible pump operating in low-sediment water may have a 15 year life while the same pump in high sediment water and without adequate sediment and check valve protection may fail in 5 or 6 years. About 10% of the pumps in my neighborhood have failed in the first 8 years and another 10% have had component failure requiring a repair in that time.

High sediment and mineral content of the groundwater acts as an abrasive and can wear out the pump bearings and other moving parts, causing the pump to fail prematurely. The check valves protects the water pump from loss of prime and having to work as hard each time the pump is activated. A failure of a check valve can result in premature failure of the pump. So, if a problem with the check valve is identified the pump could be repaired before it fails prematurely. A loss of water or a failed pressure switch both result in no water when you turn on a tap. Any change in your water should be looked into, not ignored.

If you have a well, maintaining water to your home is your job. Understanding your well, and water system is important. First of all you should know your system. You should have a copy of you well completion report to know the basics of your well. Also, after five years and every couple of years after that you should have a well maintenance inspection. According to a poll conducted by the National Groundwater Association 80% of respondents had never had a well maintenance inspection and truthfully if you called a service provider they probably would not know what you were asking for. It seems that the expected behavior is to wait until your pump or well do not work and then spend possibly days without water while you call around to find someone to get your water back on. The first time you think about your well (after the initial bacteria test when you bought your house) should not be when the well stops working.

In the past couple of years the Virginia Rural Household Water Quality Program has been working with well drillers and licensed well professionals do develop an affordable and effective well inspection service. It is still in the works, but the basics of such an inspection are:

1. A flow test to determine system output, along with a check of the water level before and during pumping. This can cost several hundred dollars, but is important before purchasing a home especially when a well is over 20 years old. 
2. A pump motor performance (check amp load, grounding, and line voltage). 
3. Check pressure tank psi, pressure switch contact, and check for leaks. 
4. Inspect the well equipment to assure that it is sanitary and meets local code requirements, the well cap is still secure and the exposed well pipe is still sound. 
5. Test of your water for iron, manganese, nitrate, lead, arsenic, fluoride, sulfate, pH, total dissolved solids, hardness, sodium, copper, total coliform bacteria and E. Coli bacteria, appearance, taste and anything else of local concern.

In general, never call a plumber for a well problem. You need to make sure that the service provider is licensed to service wells in Virginia (not all states require well drillers and well repair companies to be licensed). In Virginia a well driller should have at least a Class B contractor license and the service provider must be Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, DPOR, certified Well Water Providers. According to state regulations in Virginia (§ 54.1-1129. Necessity for licensure): “Beginning July 1, 2007, no individual shall engage in the drilling, installation, maintenance, or repair of water well or water well system unless a certified water well systems provider is onsite at all times.” Most plumbers are not certified as Water Well Providers (though I am sure that there are a couple out there)- ask. Identify one or two licensed Well Water Providers and check their references before your well fails. Having your well serviced might just be a good way to do that.

The Ward Family Does Not Lose Power - the Generator and Lightning Protection

Like my husband Stephen Moore is an economist. Mr. Moore is also a journalist and recently published an article "When The Moore Family Lost Power."  It is an interesting opinion piece, but I'm an engineer and I think you should do something to ensure that we have electricity, sewage and water- not just talk about it.

When I lived in California I became obsessed with water (okay, water and earthquakes). I maintained a constantly rotated supply of 40 gallons of fresh water at all times and read the precipitation and snow pack levels daily. The average annual precipitation in California is about 23 inches (DWR 1998), but rainfall varies greatly across the state from more than 140 inches in the northwestern California to less than 4 inches in the southern cities where all the people live. California has 1,200 miles of canals and nearly 50 reservoirs-the largest water storage and transportation system in the world that captures enough water to irrigate about four million acres and provide water to 23 million people. Even with this extensive management system there are limits to the water supply; Californian are facing the failure their water- network, due to age and lack of maintenance, growth in population and demand, mining of the groundwater, and the potentially far-reaching effects of climate change. Each new drought is a crisis. For at least twenty years California has failed to plan for the inevitable and easily imagined future.

I could never convince my neighbors of the importance of planning for the future, preventative maintenance and maintaining of our infrastructure. So, when my husband wanted to retire and suggested we look around for a place to live-my criteria was water, location where a mild temperature increase would not be devastating and high speed Internet. My husband was born and breed in Virginia and in truth there was little chance of us retiring anywhere else. Fortunately, based on several different predictions, the eastern slope of the Piedmont region of Virginia is a climate change sweet spot. It was predicted to get wetter and warmer (like the Carolinas), has a moderate four season climate with lots of available water in the Culpeper Groundwater Basin and average annual rainfall of over 44 inches a year. (Virginia’s earthquake last year was quite the surprise, but did no damage here.) We found ourselves a foreclosure with a private well with an excellent recharge rate and good water ($1,600 of water tests before purchase verified those facts) and set to work improving the home and making it more sustainable, secure and self-reliant. I test my water annually to make sure that the water remains good. I can control only my own behavior and my private infrastructure.

My Generac Guardian under my deck

Without electricity I have no water, no septic and my freezer containing a quarter of a cow (grass fed sustainably raised down the pike) is in danger of spoiling, my carefully laid down wine is in danger of being damaged and my life generally disrupted with the loss of the all the modern conveniences. So five years ago when we first bought the house, I had a Guardian 16 kilowatt automatic generator manufactured by Generac installed. When the power to the house is cut, the generator automatically kicks in to power most of the house in about 20 seconds. (Generac advertises that the new generators come on-line in 10 seconds.) I had the generator installed so that the backup power automatically turns on. The generator runs on liquid propane from a tank buried in my yard that also powers my hot water heater, backup furnace, gas grill and stove. The generator can supply the house for 23 or more days depending on whether the gas furnace is running, and is housed in a lovely insulated aluminum casing under my deck (muffling the sound) and looking good as new even after five years of sitting outside. (Note that if the generator runs more than a few days especially when new it will need oil.) The generator works great, though during a recent power outage in our area, the DVR took a couple of minutes to reload the program we were watching, the internet was back almost immediately. Over the years we’ve adjusted the load a few times, but we are never without power.  The generator is serviced annually by the electrician who installed it and my propane tank is never allowed to fall under 50% full. The propane tank has a very readable gage on it. Consumer Reports has a buyers guide for generators. 

The house also has a large south facing roof span. So in addition to the generator, I also have 7.36 KW gross, 6.2 KW PTC of Photovoltaic Solar panels on my roof. However, the panels are connected to the grid so that when the grid goes down, the solar panels do not supply power to the house. I would have to have a back-up battery and different configuration for the inverters. The solar panels have proved very reliable and actually produce slightly more power than predicted by the PV-Watts program. If electrical power were to become unreliable in my little pocket of the NOVEC service area, I would consider converting my PV solar system to directly powering the house. It turns out that except for the heat and air conditioning the solar panels can pretty much power the house on most days.

When I finished my basement and installed the elevator that makes it possible for those who can no longer climb steps to live in this house, I installed a secondary sump pump utilizing the elevator shaft (installed a couple of feet below the basement) as the natural drainage point. The elevator is one of many handicap features I’ve installed in this house. Each change or improvement is intended to be sustainable and accessible. Even if we did not need an elevator when we moved in, this is a retirement home and we will all be old and infirmed one day-plan for it. The sump pumps are also tied into the generator. Power is most likely to fail just when you need a sump pump. The sump pumps are tested and run each spring when I drain the hot water heater. The house has good natural drainage and I am not aware of the sump pumps ever needing to operate, but I have them. The elevator is greased, tightened and serviced twice a year and the type of elevator was chosen for its durable design.

Tying the solar panels into the lightning protection system

Installing an Air Terminal

It is large storms that tend to bring down the power around here. Generally speaking lightning strikes are geographically concentrated in the southeast, south and mid-west. Until we moved to Virginia (with an annual average of 344,702 lightning strikes a year and likely to increase with climate change) from California, I had not thought much about lightning. However, the fire that resulted from a lightning strike at my neighbor’s house convinced me that my husband was right and lightning protection (and whole house surge collar) was something we should buy. The air within a lightning strike can reach 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and one lightning stroke can generate between 100 million and 1 billion volts of electricity frying every computer and electrical appliance in the house. Lightning is still a major cause of building fires, even though highly effective (though not perfect) protection has long been available. 

The National Fire Protection Association, NFPA, established the American standard for installation of lightning protection systems now known as NFPA 780 in 1904.  Installation of a system in conformance with NFPA 780 can cost thousands of dollars depending on the size and shape of the house. To provide effective protection, a lightning protection system must include a sufficient number of rods with tips exposed and extending above the structure. These lightning rods, called air terminals become the preferred strike receptor for a descending step leader from the thundercloud. That rapidly-varying lightning current must then be carried away from the building into the earth through a down conductor system that will provide the path of least resistance and impedance to the flow of current and prevent "side flashes" to other objects in the vicinity of the system. All nearby metal components of the structure (solar panels, generator, roof vents, water pipes etc.) must be properly connected to the down-conductor system to ensure the flow of current to the earth. I will never really know if I needed a lightning protection system. So far, the major benefit is I’m very relaxed and sleep well during lightning storms and I am satisfied that preventing the small probability of losing all my appliances and electronics is worth the price.

In the United States we have failed to plan for the future, to properly value and maintain 24/7 water, sewer, electricity and phone. This infrastructure needs to be maintained and improved constantly replaced no mechanical component has an infinite life span. Water, sanitary sewers or septic, electricity and phone and Internet service are not a birth right. We have failed to spend our money on maintaining the infrastructure we have and to fund the commitments we have made. The likely future is one with more and extended power outages, water supply disruptions and other failures. Think about it. The Moore family might, but the Ward family does not lose power.   

The Evolution of Water Treatment

Throughout history civilizations have risen where there is a reliable supply of drinking water and have failed or disappeared when the population exceeded the available water supply. The change in water supply could have happened through population growth, through changing climate or through exhaustive water mining, but in all cases the water supply became unreliable or vanished and the civilizations disappeared. Most early water supplies were from surface water that often was visibly cloudy. The Nile has been fed for millennia by the rich runoff from Ethiopia. The rains brought nutrients and minerals with the water which created the agricultural bounty of Egypt in wet years. One of the earliest water treatments was used by the Egyptian. Alum was added to the water to cause suspended particles to settle out of the drinking water. The Greeks used charcoal, sunlight and straining to improve the taste and appearance of their water. The earliest water treatments were methods to clarify water and improve its taste and appearance using these techniques.
During the 19th century, with the rise of the European city filtration began to be regularly used. However the true advances in water treatment came out of the advances in scientific understanding. John Snow was a brilliant English physician who during his short life was the first physicians to demonstrate using statistics the correlation between water quality and cholera cases in London. This took place before the creation of the germ theory. His work would be the basis for further exploration by Louis Pasteur, who disproved spontaneous generations and HH Robert Koch who finally proved that germs were the basis of disease.
Filtration and additives like alum are effective treatments for cloudy water or turbidity, but it has limited success in removing pathogens which cause diseases like typhoid, cholera, and dysentery. The discovery in the early 1900’s that chlorine and ozone were effective disinfectants for the treatment of water to eliminate pathogens were the beginning of the modern scientific era and the birth of the great nations. The first standards for bacteria in drinking water in the United States (1914) applied only to water carried on interstate boats and trains. The Public Health Service expanded water standards beginning in 1925 with the most rudimentary standards. This was expanded in 1946 and further expanded in 1962 to standards for 28 substances in drinking water. All fifty states adopted some version of the Public Health Service standards of 1962. However, in a landmark survey by the Public Health Service in 1969 found that only 60% of the water systems surveyed meet all 28 Public Health Service standards. Several more studies ensued and resulted in Congress passing the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. The SDWA was further amended in 1986 and 1996. Today there are almost 90 substances tested for and controlled under the SDWA.
Since the passage of the SDWA in 1974 the treatment of drinking water has increased most notably by small and medium community water systems. According to the EPA treatment by these smaller systems has more than doubled. Many of the treatment techniques used today by drinking water plants include methods that have been in use for hundreds of years. However, driven by the discovery of chlorine-resistant pathogens in drinking water that can cause hepatitis, gastroenteritis, cryptosporidiosis and others, newer technologies are being employed to maintain a safe water system. Reverse osmosis and activated carbon have increased in use and additional methods of water purification will no doubt be developed as new chemicals and substance find their way into water supplies through, runoff, industrial and waste treatment point source discharges and water recycling. As population centers strain their water supply we are entering the next age of drinking water in America.