Often, a homeowner hires water remediation services to repair a home after a flood. In rural areas that use well water, they may need to call restoration and mitigation services if their private wells back up into their home. During heavy rains, a shallow well can overtop and allow water to seep into the house. Proper preparation can keep this from happening, while water extraction and remediation can repair damage.

How Shallow Wells Flood

A deep well on a property typically reaches up to 1,000 feet into the ground. That’s not likely to flood. Many rural areas use shallow wells, though. These wells may only go about 10 feet in depth; the driller stops as soon as they permeate the water table. Think of a shallow well of about 10 feet in depth, like a rain barrel. There’s only so much room in the barrel for water. Once it fills, it overflows.

Some wells stand a higher chance of flooding because of their age or lack of proper maintenance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) updates its floodplain designations each year, remapping the U.S. This process uses updated rainfall data and can mean that an older well, initially built in an area not considered a floodplain, now resides in one.

Are you thinking about getting a well drilled on your property? Do you need an existing well repaired or revamped? Are there questions you have about the pros and cons of a well? You can get these and other questions answered by the best well pumpers and well maintenance and repair experts in your area.

Good well construction is the foundation of a dependable water supply. A properly constructed ground well, designed with precision, ensures a long-lasting and efficient water system. You might even want to explore a dug well diagram to get a better understanding of the process.

Your well repair and maintenance experts are your go-to professionals for any issues that may arise. They can tackle everything from routine maintenance to major repairs, ensuring your well operates smoothly year-round. Regular servicing is vital to extend the life of your well and prevent costly problems in the future.

Whether you’re planning on getting a well drilled or need expert well maintenance and repair services, having a reliable team of professionals by your side is absolutely essential. So, don’t waste any more time, and reach out to your local experts to guarantee a well that delivers clean, fresh water for years to come.

Residents of Santa Clarita, Calif., are in luck: the local water authority is opening a new water treatment facility to deal with the levels of perchlorate in parts of the local groundwater supply.

Dan Masnada, general manager of the Castaic Lake Water Agency, announced the change, saying that the plan was to make three local wells — Saugus 1, Saugus 2 and V-201 — usable again. V-201 was the well impacted with the perchlorate, said Masnada.

Perchlorates are the salts of ammonium, potassium, magnesium and sodium, often manufactured in the United States as ammonium perchlorate. The substance is used by many industries but found most commonly as an oxidizer to increase solid rocket fuel energy.

The cost to remediate the V-201 well will be covered by the Whittaker-Bermite Corporation, which Masnada said is the agency liable for the contamination. The water agency reached a settlement with the corporation several years ago.

Castiac Lake Water Agency entered into the settlement because of perchlorate detected in the Saugus 1 and 2 wells. Although they installed removal treatments into the wells, Brian Folsom, the agency’s manager of Engineering and Operations, stated, “There was some concern that [the perchlorate] might eventually get there.”

So far, officials have stated that nothing new has passed through the V-201 well; anything that passed through Saugus 1 and 2 should have been caught by V-201.

Because the Whittaker-Bermite Corporation made fireworks, ammunition and missiles in the Santa Clarita Valley for almost 60 years, the perchlorate they produced eventually sunk into the ground and affected the groundwater. The contamination resulted in the closures of the Saugus 1 and 2 wells in 1997 and the V-201 well in 2010.

SCV History reports that as much as 70 billion gallons of water in Santa Clarita has been tainted with perchlorate and the gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether, among other contaminants. Perchlorate can have negative effects on the thyroid gland in humans, which is used to release hormones to regulate adult metabolisms and promote growth in children and the development of the fetus.

Although Folsom told reporters that the contaminant likely never reached the V-205 well downstream, the agency is continuing to monitor surrounding wells and treat those contaminated with perchlorate.