Wells in North Central Florida reaching dangerous levels

ALACHUA, Fla. (WCJB) - Wells in North Central Florida are at extremely low levels, fueled by record drought conditions.

In some cases the lack of water is causing wells to become completely depleted.

“When you drill a well, you take from the top of the ground to the water and you pull that measurement so what we’re seeing on average is about a five to ten foot drop in water tables,” said Josh Myers, a leader at All County Water.

Myers has been in the water pump business for decades and said these are the lowest water levels he has seen since 2001.

“So now when you turn on the water and you’re asking for this well to produce water it’s not producing so we’re seeing a lot of wells start to pump trash, seeing a lot of wells go dry,” Myers said.

The lack of water is forcing pumps to sputter. Myers said his crews are lowering five pumps a week on average in and around the city of Alachua.

“In the past we’ve seen drops where the water tables drop three or four feet and it hadn’t been that big of a deal but this time it drops and now we’re seeing pumps really suck out of water and just go completely dry,” Myers said.

He said air in the water and low water pressure when using multiple appliances are signs of an issue.

“If you’re running a sink and then somebodies taking a shower and then somebody goes outside and uses a water house to wash something off and the pressure just falls to nothing, that would be sign that the well is sucking out of water,” Myers said.

Myers said a repair will cost $1,000-$1,500, as long as there is no damage to the pump.

He said if residents get a water restriction alert they ought to pay attention.

“The water management’s have issued states that with water restrictions, follow them it’s serious people are running out of water,” Myers said.

Myers said we need rain and a lot of it to get out of this situation.

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