Let me just say, if I had a well-drilling company, I’d call it Good Well Hunting. But I don’t. Someone who does, however, is John Clarke, owner of Island Water Source Inc. in Edgartown, and as I learned from John, this whole process of locating water is a blend of regulatory compliance, science, and a dash of mumbo jumbo. But it all starts with regulatory compliance.
Locating the site for a well is driven by regulations set by the Board of Health. An engineer must first find the best site for the septic system and that, to a large degree, dictates the site for the well. Here on the Island, in West Tisbury, Chilmark, and Aquinnah, there must be a 150-foot setback from the septic. In Edgartown, Tisbury, and Oak Bluffs, the setback is one hundred feet.
It’s generally best to locate the well as close to the house as possible but probably no closer than ten feet from the foundation. If you have a shallow well that’s too close to the house, the vibration and sound of the pump can migrate through the plumbing. Fifty feet is good distance from the house, but there’s a well in Squibnocket that’s around 1,500 feet away. Generally an engineer will specify where the well should go, and in many cases that works out fine.
As John explains, on the south and east side of the Island you can find water just about anywhere you choose. The only caution is that you try to stay as far back from saltwater ponds as possible, because the farther away from the pond, the larger the lens or vein of freshwater will be.
It’s when you get into the hilly terrain on the north side of the Island that a little more science enters the equation, and the landscape offers clues. For instance, you generally don’t want to drill on top of or into the side of a hill; you’re more likely to find water in valleys. That’s because the hills tend to be made up of material that just doesn’t bear water well, and because ground water obeys the law of gravity and flows downward.
In these hilly areas, you generally have to go one to two hundred feet down to find water, but sometimes you have to drill even deeper. The deepest well on the Island is on Abel’s Hill and it’s around four hundred feet deep.
John claims that in his sixteen years of drilling wells, there have been only two times when he was unable to locate water. But some aquifers are harder to find than others, and occasionally he’ll bring in a douser to help out. And this is where the magic comes in.
Jeff Serusa, owner of JA Water Well Company in Vineyard Haven, is one of several dousers on the Island and he claims to have about an 80 percent success rate. He’s also quick to say, he has no idea how it works. Jeff uses two two-and-a-half-foot brass rods – each bent at a 90-degree angle.
“You basically walk around with the two rods outstretched,” Jeff explains, “until they cross. That means there’s water.” Then it gets even spookier.
“Once I find the center of the field, I hold the rods out straight and start counting in my head – twenty feet, forty feet, sixty feet – until suddenly the rods cross. That gives me the depth. I can’t explain it.”
Jeff tells the story about how one time up in Windy Gates in Chilmark, he found three locations that promised water. He then called his friend and fellow douser Marge Havens, of West Tisbury, and asked her to give it a try also. She found the same three spots. Not only that, they both predicted the exact same depth. And sure enough, when they drilled the most promising spot, they were right on the money.
So that’s the story. Get a civil engineer and follow the plot plan, and if that doesn’t work, talk to a brass rod.
Whatever works.
