Water is critical for survival. Life cannot be sustained without it. For those of you who live in the city, you simply turn on your tap and water flows freely; and if it doesn't, you have a utility company to call for service and fix your water problem.

What do you do if you're in the country with your own well, and you turn on the faucet one afternoon - only to have brown water trickle out and then stop flowing altogether? This happened to us just yesterday! We are normally conservative with our water usage and we've also had quite a bit of rain this season, so running our well dry was not an immediate concern... until it actually happened.

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How can a well go dry?

There are several reasons a well can go dry.

1. DROUGHT. We have a shallow well that's about 175 feet deep and taps into a unconfined aquifer. If not enough rain falls to replenish the groundwater, then there isn't enough water available in the ground to pump out.

2. NEW WELLS DRILLED IN THE AREA. There were two new homes built up the road from us, which means additional wells drilled into the aquifer. More straws in the bucket means that the bucket gets drained faster, and your straw might now be too short to reach the water level.

3. USAGE. If water is being removed from the well faster than it can recharge (seep) back in, then the well can go dry. In our well, the 175 foot depth provides us with a column of water that acts as a storage tank. We draw from this column of water, and fresh water seeps back in at a rate determined by the permeability of the rock around it. If we suck out all the water too fast, we end up with no water at all.

So what to do now?

1. First, check your pump & lines. Sudden water stoppage could be due to equipment malfunction: a dirty filter, a tripped breaker, a well pump giving up the good fight, a leaky water line, and so on. Our pump was still in good working order and we could find no evidence of a broken or cracked water line anywhere.

2. Next, wait. Maybe have a beer, you know, cause you're out of water. It's possible that the well ran dry simply due to usage. By next morning, our water was back, though it was murky at first due to stirred up sediment.

3. If your water does not return in a day or so, time to call a well service. There are options for improving an existing well such as drilling deeper or hydrofracturing to open up underground pockets to increase your well's performance. The well service will be able to tell you what steps are recommended.

Prevention

So what can you do to prevent this issue?

1. Have your well professionally inspected. Seriously. Do not skimp on this. A well service will be able to give you the heads up if there are any concerns that you should be aware of. We were warned when we bought our place that our shallow well might have groundwater issues down the road and that drilling a deeper well might be in our future. So, it's something we have to keep in mind, and save up for.

2. Just because you have a well, that doesn't mean you shouldn't store water!
   One of the great things about living out in the country and having a well is being a little bit safer with your water supply. But don't let yourself get lulled into complacency simply because you have a well. You may have more power over your water, but with greater power comes greater responsibility. Make sure you've got enough potable water set aside to tide you over if your water dries up suddenly.

3. Watch your usage.
   Pamper your well, because drilling a new well can be prohibitively expensive. This means low-flow shower heads, staggering baths and showers, limiting or hand-washing laundry.

The Final Word On Our Well

So what about our personal situation? Our well seems to be functioning now, after a day of very limited water use. This leads us to believe that we probably just used too much water too fast. Now, we've got water back, it's running clear, and with good water pressure. We'll continue to be extremely careful with our water usage, as well as increase our water storage. A well service will be here next week to check things out for us & give us the final word!

This little experience was an excellent reminder (and kick in the rear) that we cannot get complacent with our water supply and have to remain good stewards of it.

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