New water well failing repeated tests for bacteria in Montgomery
By Judy Pochel For The Beacon-News July 30, 2012 11:48AM
Updated: November 30, 2012 10:20AM
Well issues continue to cause concern in the village of Montgomery.
As of this week, the new Well 15 has had some 30 bacteria tests fail, causing the well to remain off line.
Before the well went on line last winter, its motor was removed and installed in Well 14. Well 14 broke down last November, affecting hundreds of homes with rust colored and smelly water. Many of the affected residents live in unincorporated Boulder Hill but pay the village for their water supply.
A new motor was ordered for Well 15 with the hope of it going on line this summer.
“We installed in the first week in May,” said Mike Pubentz, director of public works in the village. “So far we have taken 30 water samples and they have all failed,”
The culprit seems to be an abnormal level of iron and Pubentz said public works officials are running water through the systems and flushing it. He said some problems have arisen due to power needed to complete the process.
This is a first time for such a problem with a well for the village and Pubentz said the problem is uncommon. He said the contractor for the well, Layne-Western, is working on a solution.
Well 15 is part of a $2.9 million project aimed at updating water supplies for the west side of the village.
Pubentz said despite the drought, water use in Montgomery is remaining steady at approximately 3 million gallons a day. He said he believes residents are using conservation.
He recommended residents not water their lawns. “Let it go dormant, grass is pretty resilient. It may do more harm that good to occasionally water grass during this time,” he said.
He also advised that young trees, 5-years-old and under, do need to be watered to make sure they don’t die. “We have seen trees that are under stress, use the water for those,” he advised.
