Published in the Asbury Park Press
By JEAN MIKLE
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
TOMS RIVER -- United Water Toms River has received state permits for construction of a new well off Whitesville Road that will use the aquifer storage system.
United General Manager George Flegal said yesterday that the company has received a state Department of Environmental Protection permit needed for construction of Well 46, which is expected to supply up to 3 million gallons of water daily.
The new well will pump water from the shallow Cohansey aquifer during the winter months and store it deep below ground for use during the company's peak summer season. Flegal said the new well will not be available for use this summer, but construction is expected to start soon.
Water from Well 46 should be available for use by summer 2001, Flegal said. The permit is for construction only. After construction is completed, United must submit a written request to the DEP's Bureau of Safe Drinking Water for permission to use the water in its system.
United has also received permits to start the testing phase necessary to convert two existing wells, 42 and 45, to the aquifer storage system. Well 42 is located at the parkway well field off Dugan Lane, and 45 is at the parkway south well field.
Together, the two wells provide about 2.7 million gallons of water daily. Both wells tap into the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer, where water would be stored.
The permit states that water sampling for the wells must be completed quarterly, at minimum, and include testing for volatile organic chemicals, gross alpha radiation and other analyses. The permit allows conversion of the wells to aquifer storage for one year, after which an analysis of water quality will be conducted by DEP to determine if the wells can be used for aquifer storage permanently.
If styrene acrylonitrile trimer is found in water that is injected into the ground or recovered from it, the permit could be revoked. The trimer, a chemical compound related to plastics production, has been found in three Cohansey wells in the parkway well field.
It is being removed from well water with carbon filters.
Published: March 25, 2000
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