Boonsboro awaiting state OK on new well

July 11, 1997

By VANDANA SINHA

Staff Writer

BOONSBORO - Boonsboro town officials must wait for state permission to use a newly drilled well that would add more than 200,000 gallons a day to the town water reservoir - enough to lift the water ban on outdoor use permanently, they said.

After inspecting groundwater quality from Boonsboro's new 505-foot well that was drilled Friday at the north end of Schaffer Park, the town must apply for a Maryland Department of the Environment permit to pump its water into the main reservoir during water crisis situations, said Boonsboro Town Manager Jake Jones.

Once on line and functional, the new well will add 150 gallons to the town's water supply per minute, totaling 216,000 more gallons of water each day, said Gary Shaff, sales representative and master well driller for Shaff's Well Drilling in Boonsboro.

That's enough water to prevent the town from imposing future water bans, said Boonsboro Mayor Charles "Skip" Kauffman.

Staring at the gushing groundwater at the site, Kauffman said, "This looks just beautiful. I call it liquid gold."

His goal is to lift the water ban on all outdoor functions by next week, Kauffman said.

The reservoir's water level returned to 207 inches by Friday morning - 29 inches higher than Monday morning's level after two water main breaks in Keedysville last week.

Kauffman attributes the increase to repaired pipes and conserving citizens who fully cooperated with the town restrictions.

Also, a temporary filtration system for the Crestview Well in Boonsboro may be in effect by next week, routing even more water to the town's main water supply, he said.

"We're trying to get back in control of our destiny," Kauffman said. "It's rather amazing we are able to do this in the middle of a drought in southern Washington County."

That same hot, dry weather, which National Weather Service forecasters say will continue throughout next week, is preventing the towns of Smithsburg and Myersville, Md., from lifting their water bans, which have been in effect for nearly three weeks.

|

|

|