|
THE ORCBS > Environmental Compliance > Programs & Guidelines > Wellhead Protection >
The Need For Wellhead Protection Every community needs a clean source of drinking water. More than 44 percent of Michigan's residences rely on groundwater as their primary source of drinking water. Here at MSU, groundwater is our only source of drinking water. MSU's 17 production wells are drawing groundwater from the Saginaw Aquifer, which covers a large portion of the Lower Peninsula. Groundwater plays an important role in the environment because it replenishes streams, rivers, and wetlands and helps to support wildlife habitat. Groundwater is also used for irrigation and industry. Groundwater needs to be protected because once it is contaminated it can be very costly and difficult to clean up. In some cases it is impossible to do the remediation to a level that is required for potable or consumptive use. Kalamazoo County experienced first hand their need to protect their groundwater supplies after three municipal wells were found to be contaminated with organic chemicals. The cost of the clean up and treatment of the contaminated water was $7 million and one site cost more than $1.5 million. Kalamazoo County gets its water from glacial drift aquifers that are very susceptible to contamination. The City of Kalamazoo has an excellent wellhead protection website with lots of great information. To visit the site, please click on the following link: Kalamazoo wellhead protection website. The Costs Associated With Wellhead Protection The costs of putting together a Wellhead Protection Plan (WHPP) are minimal when you consider the costs of not doing a WHPP. Depending on the size of your well field, the type of aquifer, and underlying geology in the area you get your water from, the costs can vary greatly. It can cost as little as a few thousand dollars to as much as $100,000 to develop a WHPP. The state offers a 50% matching grant program to communities wanting to put together a WHPP. MSU received a $60,000 grant in 1999 to help us put together our program. As mentioned earlier, the cost of remediation can be very high. Some other communities that have had to deal with groundwater clean up are: Grand Ledge, Pinckney, and Atlanta, MI. In Grand Ledge, a leaking underground fuel tank contaminated the public supply wells and the cost to build a new filter system for the wells was $1.1 million. The Village of Pinckney had to build a new public well system at a cost of $1 million when solvents from a local manufacturing facility contaminated dozens of residential wells. Solvents were also discovered in the groundwater in Atlanta and the water system had to be replaced at the cost of over $500,000. From these examples we can see that developing and implementing a wellhead protection program is a good investment for a community. The Benefits of Wellhead Protection There are further benefits to having a WHPP. Other than the economic, health, and environmental benefits the State is offering incentives to communities with a WHPP. Public Water Supply Systems (PWSS) are required to do large numbers of chemical contaminant tests that can cost between $10,000 and $12,000 each year for each well. The communities with a WHPP would be able to get a reduction in the water quality monitoring requirements because they are being proactive about protecting their water supply. PWSS will still have to do monitoring; it will just not be as often. |
PURPOSE
