By KEVIN BOTTERMAN
Hampshire Register 12-16-04
HAMPSHIRE — Repair crews recently began working on a village water well
that was shut down in October and appear to be advancing on schedule, the
village’s engineering consultant said last week.
Crews removed existing components of the well’s pump and could begin
videotaping the well’s interior and base either later this week or early
next week, said Brad Sanderson, the village’s engineering consultant.
Village officials shut down the well in October after it began drawing a
large amount of sand into the well’s pump.
Sanderson told village trustees in November it appeared as though the well
had filled with sand.
The well began pumping water in August and operated without trouble until
October. The well was designed to pump about 1,000 gallons per minute.
Since it was shut down, some village hall insiders have dubbed it “the
well from hell.”
The village is relying on its older wells number 5 and 6 to meet the
demand for water.
The videotaped images from inside the well should provide an accurate idea
of conditions in the well, Sanderson told trustees at the Dec. 9.
The clarity of the video’s images could depend on the amount of sand in
the well, noted Village Trustee Chuck Anderson, who chairs the board’s
water committee.
‘If it’s real cloudy, that’s a bad thing,” Anderson said. “Then you drain
it and pray.”
If conditions are favorable, crews could remove the sand from the well and
return it to operation sometime in January, Sanderson said in November.
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