Our Groundwater Detection Expert
Ken Nunweiler is committed to helping you find groundwater on your property without risking the costly and time-consuming process of drilling a dry hole.
Learn About Groundwater
Learn About Groundwater
Learn about groundwater and the many related factors that are important to consider when finding groundwater. Our professional groundwater detection expert is knowledgable and is able to answer any questions you may have about finding water on your site!
Want to learn more? Call our water detection expert today.
What is Groundwater?
It is sometimes thought that water flows through underground rivers, or that it collects in underground lakes. However, groundwater is not confined to only a few channels or depressions in the same way surface water is in streams and lakes. It exists almost everywhere underground, and is always on the move. Water fills the openings in the ground and rocks, usually from 5-15m of the surface. This underground water flows at different rates through the water bearing formations. It usually flows downhill with the slope of the water table and like surface water, also flows toward and eventually drains into streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans.
Interested in learning more? Visit the Government of Canada’s informational page on groundwater here.
Why is Groundwater Important?
Groundwater is an essential resource for many Canadians. One-third of our national population uses groundwater as the only option for all daily water needs – including drinking, washing, and farming. Furthermore, over two-thirds of Canadians who live rurally rely on groundwater wells as the most reliable and less expensive option for usable water. In recent years the topic of clean and safe groundwater has developed a growing public interest through increasing media coverage, but it is still a largely underestimated and ever-vulnerable resource.
Learn more about the importance of groundwater here.
What is an Aquifer?
An aquifer is very much like a stream above ground. As I locate the underground edges of the aquifer there is a distinct line at the edge. One side of the edge is in water and the other is like that part of a stream bank and void of water.
As I walk across the underground stream the forked stick pulls and indicates water below until I walk across the stream. The other side stops pulling instantly at the edge of the stream and indicates no water below. I then determine the width and direction of the underground stream. Determining the depth comes next.
Aquifers come in all sizes and thicknesses, and their origin and composition is varied. They may be small in area or they may be very large – covering thousands of square kilometres under earth’s surface. Most unconfined aquifers of importance are in unconsolidated porous material such as sand and gravel in the water table. In British Columbia, a major glacial outwash sand and gravel aquifer occurs in the Fraser Valley, which adds to the very important groundwater resources for over a quarter of the province’s population.
The ability to measure the thickness of the aquifers is a valuable asset. The thicker the aquifer the larger the water flow it will be, and conversely, when the aquifer is thinner the water volume will also be lower. The water volume of an aquifer must be at least 500 gallons per day to support the average family of four, for household use.
Confined aquifers are a water source which can create artesian wells. This can occur where a layer of impervious material (like blue clay) separates the unconfined ground material from the confined aquifer. The water locked between the aquifers follows the glacial material that was laid down thousands of years ago, and flows down to a lower elevation. When the pressure in the confined aquifer rises and a well is drilled into this type of confined aquifer, with enough elevation difference, there may be enough hydraulic pressure to create a continuously flowing artesian well. In British Columbia, artesian wells must be capped and only used as required as they are not allowed to flow freely.
What is Groundwater Contamination?
Groundwater is crucial for the population health, as well as the economic and ecosystem health in Canada. However, the ever-developing urban landscape that we inhabit threatens the continued use and sustainability of this important resource. Although many think of Canada’s water as clean and pure, recent media attention and growing public awareness has brought to light the different events that have affected our groundwater quality over the passing decades.
One main concern with our natural groundwater sources has been with contamination. According to the Government of Canada, “any addition of undesirable substances to groundwater caused by human activities is considered to be contamination” (source). Because of the vast amount of groundwater that is present within Canadian land, groundwater often spreads the effects of contaminating dumps and spills far beyond the original contamination site. This makes the overall effects of these types of contamination exponentially more difficult to control and clean. Furthermore, because groundwater drains so slowly and takes so long to collect, contaminated aquifers can become unusable for decades or even hundreds of years, depending on the severity of the contamination.
The threat of groundwater contamination continues to increase in Canada. As a result, varying levels of government are taking the necessary actions to protect our groundwater supplies, and prevent contamination from happening in the first place. The Geological Survey of Canada, run by the Canadian Groundwater Geosciences Program, has been given responsibility for looking at Canada’s key aquifer systems and tracking the changes in quality assessment and activity levels of these resources over time. This collective data allows for steps to be taken towards advanced groundwater management systems which may help to preserve this vital feature of Canadian land.
Visit the Government of Canada’s informational page about groundwater contamination here, and learn more about the sustainable management of Canada’s groundwater here.
What is the Hydrologic Cycle?
Groundwater is a part of the naturally occurring hydrologic cycle. Water is always on the move, and groundwater is no exception to that! Water is stored for varying lengths of time in many different forms, including as water in swamps and lakes, as soil moisture, as ice and snow, and as groundwater.
Over time we see these water stores be transferred from one environment to another during the hydrological cycle. Precipitation becomes groundwater, which then drains towards a discharge point (eg. rivers and lakes), and eventually evaporates back into the air to become precipitation again. The rate at which this process occurs is dependent on a multitude of factors, among them the biological environment, the physical and chemical state of the water itself, and the nature of the earth it is moving through.
Learn more about the hydrologic cycle here.
Other Resources
New Requirements for Groundwater Users – New BC requirements put into place as of February 29th, 2016.
Be Well Aware – Information for private well owners.
The Groundwater Foundation – connects people, businesses, and communities through local groundwater education and action.
Ground Water and the Rural Homeowner – Report by Roger M. Waller.
Groundwater Protection Regulation – Canadian Government program ensures that activities related to wells and groundwater are performed in an environmentally safe manner.
Dowsing Data Defy the Skeptics – Finding water with a forked stick might not be a hoax.