July 29, 2026
This week’s photo is courtesy of A.C. Schultes- MD, VA, DE, DC, WV, USA
Safety Focus
Part 3 of 4: Working From Heights: Apply
Once you know a spot is over the line, the response follows an order: remove the exposure first, do the work at grade, or use a guardrail-protected platform, before relying on a harness. When tying off is unavoidable, a personal fall arrest system comes down to four parts, easy to remember as ABCD. The number that ties it together is clearance: free fall, plus deceleration distance, plus harness stretch, plus a safety margin. Anchor too low, and a worker in a good harness can still reach the ground before the system stops him.
Key Takeaways
• Guardrails protect everyone passively; a harness only protects the one wearing it correctly.
• Full-body harness only. Body belts have not been legal for fall arrest since 1998.
• Do the clearance math. A harness clipped too low is a false sense of safety.
Sources:
Industry Update
EPA Widens Water Testing Even As It Pares Back Some PFAS Limits
Two EPA moves this summer pull in opposite directions, but both add up to more work for well and water-system professionals. UCMR 6, proposed July 1, expands monitoring for unregulated contaminants, including certain PFAS: more sampling points, and in some systems, more dedicated monitoring wells. Meanwhile, EPA is scaling back part of the 2024 PFAS drinking-water rule: keeping the PFOA/PFOS limits in place while giving systems more time to comply, and rescinding limits for four other PFAS. The comment period on both moves has now closed. For well professionals, the takeaway isn't the politics, it's the workload: raw and finished-water sampling, monitoring-well installation, vertical profiling, and treatment or replacement work will keep coming regardless of where the final limits land. The firms that pair drilling with clean construction records and solid sampling practice are the ones utilities will call.
Sources:
Knowledge Share
Part 3 of 4: Filter Pack Materials: The Characteristics
Material type is the headline; the characteristics are where a pack is actually specified. Start with gradation and the uniformity coefficient, CU: the lower the number, the more uniform the material. Next is the pack-aquifer ratio, the pack's grain size relative to the aquifer's; Williams notes a striking result from Roscoe Moss testing here: a uniform pack will stabilize even a very non-uniform aquifer as long as that ratio holds. Grain shape and pack thickness round out the specification. For drinking water, confirm the media is NSF/ANSI 61 certified and meets AWWA A100 Standards.
What this means for your operation: The numbers, CU, pack-aquifer ratio, and thickness, are what separate an engineered pack from a pile of gravel.
Sources:
• Dr. Dennis E. Williams: Modern Techniques in Well Design
• Roscoe Moss: Gravel Pack Design (Technical Memorandum)
Industry Events
NGWA: Data Centers and Groundwater (Member Webinar)
August 5, 2026 · Virtual Attendance
Information and Registration: NGWA Event Registration
NGWA: Darcy Lecture, Groundwater Recharge Regimes Are in Flux
August 4, 2026 · Virtual Attendance
Information and Registration: NGWA Event Registration
National Drilling Association: 2026 Drill Expo
September 17–18, 2026 · Nashville, TN
Information and Registration: NDA Drill Expo Details
NGWA: Meeting the Challenges of Groundwater in Fractured Rock
September 21–22, 2026 · Burlington, VT
Information and Registration: NGWA Conference Details
Washington State Ground Water Association: Fall Convention
October 2–3, 2026 · Kennewick, WA
Information and Registration: WSGWA Fall Convention
California Groundwater Association: Annual Convention
October 6–8, 2026 · Reno, NV
Information and Registration: CGA Convention Details
NGWA: Groundwater Week 2026 (Pinned Anchor)
December 8–10, 2026 · Las Vegas, NV
Information and Registration: 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!
