July 27, 2026
This week’s photo is courtesy of A.C. Schultes- MD, VA, DE, DC, WV, USA
Safety Focus
Part 1 of 4: Working From Heights: Why It Matters
A fall doesn't need a tall structure to kill you. In 2024, falls, slips, and trips killed 844 workers, and 666 died falling to a lower level. Only about 11 percent of those fatal falls came from over 30 feet. The rest happened at heights a rig hand crosses every shift. That's why fall protection has topped OSHA's most-cited list for 15 straight years. It isn't a paperwork problem; it's the gap between a routine step off a truck deck and a life-altering injury. This week covers why it matters, where the hazards hide on a well site, the systems that stop a fall, and how to make it a habit that holds on a busy morning.
Key Takeaways
• A fatal fall usually happens at ordinary working height, not off a derrick.
• These deaths are all too common, and they are preventable.
• Size up the fall exposure before the work starts, every time.
Sources:
Industry Update
Virginia Study Ties Data Centers to a Stressed Aquifer, Urges Tighter Permits
Virginia, the world's largest data-center hub, just released a long-delayed state study on groundwater beneath its eastern coastal plain. This is worth every driller's attention. The report finds the aquifer under real pressure from population growth and industrial demand, and urges giving regulators more authority to reject withdrawal permits, require applicants to evaluate alternative sources first, and rein in over-pumpers. It stops short of blaming data centers, but lands while their water use is under a national microscope. USGS data backs the stress picture: decades of pumping have pushed the confined Yorktown-Eastover system near its highest withdrawal rate on record, with storage loss now just under 7 percent of what's withdrawn.
For well professionals, this is a preview of the next few years. When a state requires applicants to prove they can't use reclaimed or surface water first, project front-ends grow: more test wells, monitoring networks, long-duration pumping tests, and hydrogeology before a production well gets approved. That's billable work, not just red tape, and Virginia may not be the last state to require it.
Sources:
• Associated Press: Virginia Study on Groundwater, Data Centers Calls for Tighter Water Regulations
Knowledge Share
Part 1 of 4: Filter Pack Materials: The Basics
"Not all filter pack materials are created equal." That line, from Adam Lind at P.W. Gillibrand, is the whole reason to spend a week on what goes in the annulus. A filter pack has one job: stabilize the aquifer so the well produces sand-free water while still flowing freely to the screen. As Dr. Dennis Williams explains, the pack stabilizes the formation, and the screen is then sized to stabilize the pack. Get the material right and you buy yield, sand control, and years of service life; get it wrong and you're pulling the pump early. Earlier this month we covered the relationship between well screens and filter packs. This week goes deeper on the material itself: the types you can specify, what separates a good pack from standard aggregate, and what to confirm before you order.
What this means for your next design: Know your filter pack material: size, quality, and purpose.
Sources:
• Dr. Dennis E. Williams: Modern Techniques in Well Design
• Roscoe Moss: Gravel Pack Design (Technical Memorandum)
Industry Events
National Water Resources Association: Western Water Seminar
August 4-7, 2026; Boise, ID
Information and Registration: NWRA: Western Water Seminar
NGWA: Darcy Lecture, Groundwater Recharge Regimes Are in Flux
August 4, 2026; Virtual Attendance, 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. ET
Information and Registration: NGWA Event Calendar
NGWA Webinar: Data Centers and Groundwater
August 5, 2026; Virtual Attendance, 1:00 to 1:30 p.m. ET
Information and Registration: NGWA Event Calendar
American Ground Water Trust: Mid-Atlantic and the Carolinas Groundwater Conference
August 18-19, 2026; Richmond, VA
Information and Registration: AGWT: Mid-Atlantic Conference
NGWA: Advancing Women in Groundwater, Conversations That Connect
August 27, 2026; Virtual Attendance, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. ET
Information and Registration: NGWA: Advancing Women in Groundwater
NGWA: Groundwater Week 2026
December 8-10, 2026; Las Vegas, NV
Information and Registration: NGWA Groundwater Week 2026
If you have a conference, symposium, workshop, or water well related event that you would like mentioned, contact us at [email protected]
Work Hard. Work Smart. Stay Safe!
