Appomattox shuts down leaking well

An Appomattox well is leaking almost 80 feet below the surface.

The leak, which drops about one and a half gallons of surface water per minute down into Well No. 15, forced town officials to take the well out of service until it can be fixed.

Well No. 15 is leaking from where the protective steel casing is sealed to bedrock. Since surface groundwater is leaking into the well, the health department has advised the town not to bring the well back into service until that leak is fixed for fear of contaminating a public water supply, Town Manager David Garrett said. The well has been offline since April 15.

Environmental and health standards for public water are stricter than for private wells, which usually draw water from the shallow groundwater table, Garrett said.

But the question to town officials is whether the town should spend between $8,000 and $10,000 to fix the well, when geologists strongly believe the deep water system is connected to at least two nearby town wells, Garrett told Town Council on Tuesday.

Because of that, there’s no guarantee the town will actually pump more water out of the ground by putting the well back in service, Garrett said.

“It’s almost like sticking more straws into a cup of water.”