Board says well 'worth it'

By Brittany Woodby

HANCEVILLE — BWOODBY@CULLMANTIMES.COM

A 100-year-old well residents once used as a laundromat could help Hanceville endure future dry seasons.

The Hanceville Water and Sewer Board recently hired a drilling company from Pensacola, Fla., to excavate the 2,800-foot well, owned by resident Jimmy Hamrick.

If initial indicators are true, board co-manager Sally Alexander said the well has potential to serve as an additional water supply.

“Hopefully, it will be our next water source,” she said. The board began looking for alternative sources during last year’s historic drought, which left the city’s current aquifer dry. The board entered into an agreement to purchase water from the City of Cullman, but planned to eventually secure its own water.

“The reason we’re doing the assessment on this well first is it is in existence and it will save us money if it is a viable water source,” Alexander said. “We wouldn’t have the cost of digging a new well. We would still have to re-case it and make it bigger, but it is still going to be cheaper than starting from scratch.”

The well’s century-long history began when prospectors drilled in the area for oil. After reaching 1,200 feet, drillers found water, but no oil.

“They were still in water at 2,800 feet, which is very deep for the technology available for drilling at those days,” Alexander said. “When they got to 2,800 feet, they just decided the well was not good for anything but water.”

Alexander said the well, with its depth and supposedly large amount of water, would bring several benefits to the system.

“Foremost, it would be hard for contaminants from surface water runoff to get into the well water since the well is more than half a mile deep,” she said. “It’s cleaner water, and there are usually a lot of security issues associated with groundwater.”

The well water also has a small amount of naturally-occurring sodium chloride, which Alexander said gives it a good taste.

“It tastes wonderful,” she said. “I’ve had Evian and Dasani, and this is the best water I’ve ever had in my life.”

The sodium chloride also made the water perfect for washing clothes.

“According to the older people, everybody would go there and wash clothes,” Alexander said. “They never had to use anything to whiten their clothes, because their clothes came out really white. ... (Sodium chloride) makes them very soft.”

Residents have also told Alexander about the abundant supply of water available from the well.

“The rumor is, before they put the log down in it years ago, water was shooting out higher than a man’s head,” Alexander said.

After years of use, however, the well was plugged up with several pine logs.

“They didn’t cap off wells like they do now,” Alexander said. “When they abandoned the well, they put pine tree logs in it to fit the casing and knocked them down in with hammer drill, sort of like a cork.”

The water began seeping out around the logs and Alexander said Hamrick let the water fill tubs for his livestock to drink.

When the Hanceville Water and Sewer Board began looking for more water, their attention turned to Hamrick’s well.

“All indicators say there should be a lot of water down there, but we don’t want to give false hope,” Alexander said. “This might not be the water answer we’re looking for, but if we’re right, we hope to have enough water for us and maybe for other people should the drought hit and make a need for immediate water sources.”

The board entered into an agreement with Hamrick to conduct the necessary assessments, and if the well turns out to be a viable source of water, Alexander said they will re-negotiate to pay Hamrick an estimated $1.20 per 1,000 gallons of water.

The entire project, including the cost for Layne Christensen Drilling Company, should fall between $150,000 and $200,000. Alexander said the board is paying for most of the project from a loan it took out with Merchants Bank.

While crews have been on-site for a month and drilled 1,000 feet into the well, Alexander said there are still many assessments to be made before the water could make it into customers’ homes.

“We have to keep a detailed log, or journal, daily keeping up with the integrity of the well at so many feet,” she said. “Then, we are sending the water off to a lab in Georgia to be carbon dated, so we’ll know exactly how old it is and how long it’s been in the well.”

Once that information is obtained, Alexander said the board can submit the log, videos of the excavation and the inside of the well and samples to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to be assessed and approved for treatment. Once the treatment process has been decided, it could only be a few months before the well starts contributing the the city’s water supply.

“We don’t know exactly what kind of infrastructure we’ll have to put in,” Alexander said. “We know we’ll have to put in lines, and a pump, but mostly it’s depending on the type of treatment process. The water is so good, we’re hoping all we’d have to do is post-chlorinate it.”