What Happens When Water Wells Work Together?
By Margaret Martens
Originally published by Water Quality Products magazine
Powerful things can happen when the water well industry works together, and this was apparent when the Water Well Trust (WWT) partnered with industry organizations to bring safe water supplies to rural Americans in need.
In the past three years, the WWT has worked with three charitable organizations—Culligan Cares, Pentair Foundation and Xylem Watermark—to rehabilitate old wells and drill new wells for families in New York, Louisiana, Georgia, Montana, Arkansas, North Carolina and Texas.
Xylem Watermark Projects
In 2018, the WWT partnered with Xylem Watermark, a nonprofit program administered by Xylem Inc., to tackle a project in the Holly Ridge subdivision of Candler, N.C. The subdivision was developed in 1990 in three phases with four wells serving 29 lots. Over the years, the well houses and well equipment fell into severe disrepair, and the 24 households served by these wells—including 45 adults and 18 minor children—were unable to pay for replacement well systems.
Xylem provided all the materials to rehabilitate the Holly Ridge wells. Merrill Well Drilling performed the well drilling work, and Xylem employees from the company’s Charlotte office rebuilt the well houses.
The second Xylem Watermark project was completed for a family of four in Bulverde, Texas, near San Antonio in July 2019. The family, which includes a 27-year-old disabled daughter, had been sharing water with the wife’s parents who now are in their 90s and moving from their home. Sharing water with family members was no longer possible, so the family applied to the Water Well Trust for its own well.
Through Goulds Water Technology, Watermark provided a $5,000 grant for the project as well as the pump, tank, control box and volunteer labor. Goulds Professional Dealers Assn. (GPDA) members donated additional funds for the project, as well. Other contributions to the project came from Austin Pump, which coordinated the project with drilling company H.W. Schwope & Sons and provided additional materials for the new well. H.W. Schwope & Sons provided a 30% discount on labor, and other donations were received from Southwire, Simmons Mfg. and Jet Stream.
