Drought affecting private wells

The dry weather in southern Wisconsin is causing problems for home owners who have wells. Companies that drill and fix private wells are seeing an increase in business.

Ellen Redekcer is with Sams Well Drilling in Randolph. She says they’re getting calls everyday from worried homeowners whose wells are dried up or need fixing. “Last week we had a rash of totally out of water people,” she says. “Waukesha county Adams county, Dane County, Columbia county, so there’s not too many right around us that’s not touched by this.”

The weather does have an upside. Well drilling companies that saw business slow down during the recession are seeing an uptick in the number of calls. Jeff Faherty runs Faherty and Sons Well Drilling in Platteville. He says business is turning around. “The housing industry really hit us hard we’d go out and drill a few wells, then we’d come home and sit a few days and then go out and do a few more,” he says. “But now I think we’re going to notice an increase in work.”

Faherty says the drought isn’t the only reason for the wells drying up. He says light snowfall last winter and a dry spring are also factors.