July 28, 2026
This week’s photo is courtesy of A.C. Schultes- MD, VA, DE, DC, WV, USA
Safety Focus
Part 2 of 4: Working From Heights: Recognize
You can't protect against a fall you never spotted. Two questions decide when protection is required: how high, and over what. Construction work sets the bar at 6 feet above a lower level (1926.501); general industry drops it to 4 feet (1910.28). Over dangerous equipment, there's no minimum; protection is required at any height. Mine property plays by different rules: MSHA skips the number entirely, requiring safety belts and lines wherever there's a danger of falling (30 CFR 56.15005). Walk your site with those triggers in mind. The obvious hazards are the mast and rig floor. The ones that bite are quieter: a mud tank top, a flatbed deck, an open cellar or pit, a ladder to a walkway. Crews watch the derrick closely but step off a truck bed without a second thought. That's often where the odds catch up.
Key Takeaways
• Two questions set the rule: how high, and over what.
• The hazard is often the top of a tank or truck deck, not just in the derrick.
• Different site, different regulator. Know which one governs where you are working.
Sources:
Industry Update
Both Chambers Move WRDA 2026 Forward, With Wins for Smaller Systems
WRDA, the every-two-years bill authorizing the Army Corps of Engineers, cleared a major hurdle this month: the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unanimously approved H.R. 9497 on July 14, and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed its version on July 15. Both now head to their full chambers, and if each passes, the two versions will need to be reconciled. One caution: WRDA authorizes projects and sets policy; it doesn't hand out money. That comes later, through appropriations. This is the framework stage, not the check-writing stage.
Why track it anyway: WRDA shapes the pipeline of future Corps water projects, and this cycle leans toward water-supply and drought work, with easier access for smaller communities that rely on groundwater but lack the staff to navigate the federal process. The Senate bill also reauthorizes EPA's drinking water and wastewater State Revolving Funds, the low-interest loans that quietly fund a lot of municipal well and system work. Watch for the floor votes, then the appropriations that follow.
Sources:
• U.S. Senate EPW Committee: Committee Passes the Bipartisan Water Resources Development Act of 2026
• U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee: Committee Passes the Water Resources Development Act
Knowledge Share
Part 2 of 4: Filter Pack Materials: The Material Types
Filter pack material falls into three broad families, and knowing them is the start of specifying well. First, rounded natural gravel: washed, screened, and sized silica sand whose rounded grain shape promotes high porosity and permeability, minimizes bridging as it goes down the annulus, and helps hold back formation fines. Second, engineered glass beads: media with a nearly perfect spherical shape and very uniform size, which creates predictable pore space, strong hydraulic conductivity, and less installation variability, and the glass is chemically inert and durable. Third, hybrid packs: a blend of rounded gravel and glass beads tuned to hit a specific gradation, so the pack can be tailored to the formation and the design. Shape is not the only quality marker, though. A sub-angular but high-silica pack with very low acid solubility can meet AWWA A100 and perform well, so cleanliness, silica content, and tight uniformity matter as much as roundness. A range of suppliers serve this market, so specify the properties the job needs and let that drive the choice. A tip of the hard hat to Adam Lind at P.W. Gillibrand for the material picture.
What to consider on your next bid: Rounded, beads, or hybrid each solve a different problem. Spec the material family deliberately.
Sources:
• Roscoe Moss (Dennis E. Williams): Modern Techniques in Well Design
• Roscoe Moss: Gravel Pack Design (Technical Memorandum)
Industry Events
Event Spotlight: Data Centers and Groundwater (NGWA Webinar)
On August 5, NGWA hosts a 30-minute member webinar, “Data Centers and Groundwater: What NGWA Members Need to Know”, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. As states like Virginia begin studying how hard the data-center boom pulls on their aquifers, this is the trade association's own read on where the issue is heading and what it means for the people who drill, test, and monitor the wells caught up in it. It is short, it is online, and it fits in a lunch break. If high-volume industrial groundwater demand is anywhere on your radar, it is a half hour well spent.
NGWA: Data Centers and Groundwater (Member Webinar)
August 5, 2026 · Virtual Attendance
Information and Registration: NGWA Event Registration
Also This Week and Beyond
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!
