After the Hepatitis A outbreak last Spring, the Health Department informed us we needed an approved water source – a borehole well – in order to be open to the public, host campers, and hold classes and events. These activities are essential to Earthaven’s mission, so Council has approved expenditures for drilling the well and connecting its bounty to those sites used by our visitors.  After much time spent preparing and, of course, waiting, we had the well site above the new campground approved and access to it ready for the heavy rig to drill it.

Farmer, Geoff, and Alice witnessed the operation.   The rig was something else. Suspended on hydraulic jacks with a 40 foot tower holding the motor running the drill, it had a rack of fifteen 20-foot-long hollow drill rods. First a 12-inch hole through the clay was drilled; then they switched to a 10-inch bit at twenty feet, hitting water and soft bedrock at forty feet. After another fifteen feet, they got to hard bedrock. They had to place steel casing at least five feet into hard bedrock, and then pour cement between the casing and the borehole, in order to seal out all debris and surface water.

Just to remind us that big expensive machines are not perfect, a few glitches held up the drilling. The bit got stuck in the hole; it took about a half hour of juddering to free it. Then the hammer drill bit jammed, and another half hour of mechanical bashing did nothing. So they applied a mammoth, powered monkey wrench which promptly broke, flinging an iron jaw at the mud bank. Fortunately no one was in its path.

Finally, a 6-inch bit was used to continue drilling into bedrock while pouring bentonite plus cement between the casing and the borehole. At 5:45 pm, they were 170 feet into the ground and were getting a trickle of water. Meanwhile cement and bentonite were flowing out of openings between the casing and borehole as fast as they piped it in: it would have to settle overnight.

Next day, in the rain: drill twenty feet, unscrew the rod from the drill, attach another 20-foot rod, drill, drill, drill. Finally, at circa 340 feet, they hit water. The usual deal is to drill another sixty feet to see if the fracture area will yield more water. It did; we ended up with twenty gallons a minute (our minimum need was ten) and a static level (where the water level is at resting state) only fifteen feet below ground level. This is good news, because we will need only a small pump to raise the water up to a holding tank. From there, we’ll run pipe down to the campground, the Council Hall, and the Trading Post.

The drilling cost, around $5,500, and the solar panels, pump, and pipes will cost another $10,000. We anticipate a total of close to $30,000 for labor and materials when we’re done. Most of our own labor comes from commmunity service hours.  This expense  is financialy demanding for a cash poor organization like Earthaven.  Please help us meet the growing demands from the public for day and overnight tours.  Your support is not tax deductible at this time, but still can help Earthaven community meet its mission. Many thanks  from the vigilantes: Farmer, Geoff, and Alice.

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This summer, Earthaven members learned the hard way that an innocent trip to another country can create a huge problem on many levels. After several months in South America, one long-time member came home unknowingly infected with the Hepatitis A virus, suffered non-specific symptoms from it, and then unknowingly passed it on to another member, who then of course accidentally passed it on to a few others. The person who came down the hardest with the virus wound up at an emergency care center and was quickly diagnosed with Hep A (considered the least dangerous of the three viruses that attack the liver). The epidemic was contained fairly quickly, and future travelers abroad may be asked to have themselves tested for key communicable diseases upon their return. We certainly recommend to all our members and friends to be more “hep” during and after their travels abroad.

Visits from our local Health Department followed immediately, and though we eventually figured out how the outbreak began, their first suspicion was our drinking water. Some taps tested showed a minimal amount of coliform, not from the spring but due to improper handling of the tap. More important, their investigation brought to light the N.C. state requirement that limits the number of people sharing one potable water source to 24 or fewer 25. Fortunately for Earthaven, we have already tapped several springs and are working on a plan to create discrete “water districts” that will serve our neighborhoods as we grow.

The investigation also set specific limits on serving the public, including a prohibition against offering our untreated spring water to the “unsuspecting public.” We witnessed the drilling of the first well ever at Earthaven, after which we will soon be able to offer water for all uses to day guests and campers alike.

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