It’s Groundwater Week and Here’s What You Need to Know

The first full week of December brings snow and Christmas trees to mind for many. But in our industry, it’s also Groundwater Week, an important time to discuss and reflect on changes in groundwater in the U.S.

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Inspector Pumphead is ready for another year at the Groundwater Expo!

What is Groundwater?

Simply put, groundwater is the water found beneath the top layer of the earth’s surface. Groundwater finds space in the cracks between rocks, soil and sand and settles in reservoirs called aquifers. Aquifers are the source for water wells and are thus the main source of all water for a significant portion of the U.S. population. Over 65,000 million gallons of groundwater were withdrawn every day in the U.S. according to a 2005 USGS survey.

The NGWA Groundwater Expo

The NGWA (National Groundwater Associaton) is a “a community of groundwater professionals working together to advance groundwater knowledge and the success of our members through education and outreach.” To that end, they have established the annual Groundwater Expo to bring together the best and brightest minds in the groundwater industry. This year, the Expo will take place at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada from December 6 to December 8.

The expo will allow manufacturers to display pumping systems, motors and other groundwater equipment on the exhibition floor. Key exhibitors this year include Boshart, Franklin Electric, Grundfos and Goulds Water Technology, all partners of PumpProducts.com. Of course, a big part of the expo is that it goes beyond exhibiting new equipment and delves into the various scientific, environmental and legal aspects of the industry as well.

-Goulds J7S Shallow Well Jet Pump

Contractors and suppliers will be present, but so will scientists, engineers, regulators and policy makers. Seminars this year include “The Water Systems Cost Savings Act and Other Legal and Legislative Issues,” “Solar Water Pumping: This Growing Renewable Energy Opportunity Can Become Your New Viable Revenue Source,” and a series of talks on “Large Capacity Well Efficiency: Food Production, Energy and Supply Challenges.”

Keynote Speaker:

Peter G McCornick, Ph.D., PE, D.WRE will give this year’s keynote speech. McCornick is a well-respected authority on subjects involving water, food and environmental research and will talk about the effects of drought and groundwater completion. The NGWA posted a fascinating excerpt of an interview with McCornick in the November issue of Water Well Journal. A relevant portion:

WWJ: In the United States, how critical is the drought in the West and Southwest?
Peter: The chances of a 35-year or longer “megadrought” striking the Southwest and Central Great Plains by 2100 are above 80 percent if the world stays on its current trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions, report scientists from NASA, Columbia University, and Cornell University in a recent study published in the new open-access journal Science Advances.

Water—and groundwater in particular—is vital to mitigating the impacts of drought in the West and Southwest. Experience from the recent drought in California shows the use of groundwater to augment shortfalls from other sources helps protect agricultural revenues. However, prolonged drought and reliance on groundwater will lead to depletion, as well as competition with other users, salinity, subsistence, and in some cases, degradation of the ecosystems. The recent experience with drought in the West and Southwest is an important reminder of the significance of groundwater and the importance of improving our management of the resource.

Read more here.

How Can We Meet Your Groundwater/Well Water Needs?

PumpProducts.com stocks a wide variety of well water pumps and accompanying accessories from top manufacturers such as Goulds Water Technology, Pentair (through its subsidiaries Berkeley and Myers) and Grundfos.

Both deep well (for water tables more than 25 ft. underground) and shallow well jet pumps are available for older systems. Highly efficient submersible well pumps from Franklin Electric and Goulds are also featured.

One of our most popular models is the Goulds J7S Shallow Well Jet Pump. Check out the product highlight video below:

The video includes all the relevant specifications, information and curves for this popular well pump.

Be sure to consult your local well specialist to get a sense of your system requirements. Once you have that information, be sure to call our PumpProducts.com experts at 1-800-429-0800 to size out a specific pump model.