Excitement amongst the Clancy Water and Sewer Board after its second test well struck water, has since changed to uneasiness and concerns of whether the well will provide viable drinking water for the district.
First round water quality analysis conducted at Test Well 2 – located on the Virginia “Ginny” Kalchbrenner’s property along Clancy Creek – indicated elevated uranium levels, which could prove troublesome for the 107 homes in Clancy’s water district.
The test found 0.0261 milligrams per liter uranium, which equates to nearly 90% of the maximum contaminant level of 0.03 milligrams per liter, according to an email from Great West Engineering’s Business Unit Manager Collette Anderson, read by the water and sewer board during its June 27 meeting: “This could prove to be problematic, as it would certainly be on [the Department of Environmental Quality’s] radar.”
The water quality tests also indicated that water in Test Well 2 contains high amounts of calcium and magnesium, classifying it as hard water. Although a nuisance, hard water is not a health concern, Anderson said.
Total dissolved solids also came in high in the first round of testing, measuring in at 489 milligrams per liter. The Environmental Protection Agency’s secondary standard for dissolved solids – a non-enforceable guideline used to “assist public water systems in managing their drinking water for aesthetic considerations, such as taste, color and “odor” – is 500 milligrams per liter.
Board member Bob Johnson told those in attendance at the meeting – Commissioner Cory Kirsch and County Sanitarian Megan Bullock – that he found the uranium levels discouraging.
Bullock, however, said the situation may not be as discouraging as it seems, pointing out that systems to filter the uranium exist. Despite some unpleasant uranium results, Test Well 2 contained fairly low levels of fluoride.
“High fluoride levels are common in the area, so this was good to see,” Anderson said.
Great West conducted a second round of water quality testing, in which dissolved solids and hardness each dropped approximately 20 milligrams per liter. Second round uranium and radionuclide results were not available as of the June 27 meeting.
Anderson suggested selecting a third test well site in case second round test results continued to show high uranium as an issue.
“It’s hard to give up on a lot of water,” Board member Bill Hammer said at the meeting, referring to Test Well 2.
But Great West isn’t giving up entirely; instead, they’re preparing to shift their focus to other potential test well sites.
“The hydrogeologists would like to see a test well on Steve Marks’ property, or closer to Redcliff or the school well,” Anderson wrote to the board. “But [the hydrogeologists] also think we need to think hard about going back to [Test Well 1] area.”
Test Well 1 was constructed in 2022 on a Clancy property owned by Keith Foley, but was abandoned after its pump test revealed low water yield.
Great West’s suggestion raised another concern among board Chair Lori Gilliand, who questioned: “How many test wells do we do before we throw our hands up?”
