Breathing Wells

Suckers and Blowers of Central Alberta

A phenomenon concerning water wells

Introduction:

In July of 1999 the national news media focused on the deaths of two young people in a so called "root cellar", near Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Canada.

Because of this tragic event the Canadian Ground Water Association became involved when media reports stated that the root cellar contained a water well and pressure system. We contacted the investigating officer of the RCMP and provided him with the information contained in the following documentation.

The first of the Staudinger children who perished in this incident on their parents' farm unwittingly entered the "root cellar/well pit" to procure vegetables for their evening meal. The father attempted to rescue his daughter but was also overcome by "gas". The son then attempted to rescue his sister and father but was also overcome. Of the three only the father survived.

The farm is located in south-central Alberta in a region of the province known as the "parkland".

The Great Plains area of western North America is a large sedimentary basin. In Alberta, the bedrock of the Plains region are mainly composed of Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary shales and sandstones. These shales and sandstones were deposited under both marine and non-marine conditions and although some sandstones are of fairly significant areal extent, most of the sandstone occurs in scattered lenses within a thick shale section.

The Alberta Plain is the province's largest land region. It covers about two-thirds of Alberta. Most of this region has an altitude of more than 600 meters above sea level. Most of the northern part of the Alberta Plain is covered by forest. Further south are interspersed areas of forest and prairie. This is known as the parkland and is one of the premier farming regions in Canada. It has deep dark topsoil, regular annual precipitation and relatively good ground water supply mainly from bedrock aquifers.

Preamble:

When the settlers began to arrive in Central Alberta in the late 1800's and permanent towns, villages and farms became part of the landscape, acquisition of water supplies became essential and hand dug wells became a method of obtaining a ground water supply if surface sources were not available.

Around the turn of the century the Red Deer region was witnessing a large influx of settlers and this is where records of deaths from digging water wells begins to be noted and recorded.

Stories from some of the local history books relate to these accidental deaths and many of the stories claim that the cause was the so called "black damp gas".

Water well drilling equipment became more common in the first two decades of the century and hand dug wells were to become a thing of the past.

Suckers and Blowers:

However, in some particular localized areas a phenomenon in the drilled wells was being noted.

These wells alternately "sucked" air in and then in a matter of hours or days would "blow" or expel this air. Old time drillers referred to these wells as "suckers and blowers". Nobody seemed to pay much attention to them except in the winter time.

This occurred because during periods of extreme cold weather these wells would suck in cold air and freeze the pumping systems, sometimes down as far as 40 feet below ground surface.

In the 1950's and 1960's with the advent of rural electrification, the installation of modern pump and pressure systems became commonplace.

Well pits were to become a "norm" for frost proofing these systems.

Well pits are constructed of concrete, wood or galvanized metal. They are actually a miniature basement type structure. Well pits were generally constructed to a total depth of about 8 feet in order to stay below the frost line prevalent in the climatic condition of the western Canadian prairies during the winter season.

The well casing was generally cut off approximately a foot above the well pit floor, the pump installed and the pressure tank and accessories were located in the well pit.

These well pits were to present a serious danger in the situation of a sucking and blowing well. In most situations, the well cover on the well casing is not airtight unless it is of the "sanitary well seal" variety and is tightened very securely.

If the well was "expelling" air, the air would come through any opening in the well cover, settle in the well pit and eventually fill up the entire pit.

In 1970, 2 deaths occurred in a well pit east of Delburne, Alberta (NW 21-27-22-4). The water well was located in the pit and subsequent investigation indicated that it was a sucker and blower. However, no mention of what "gas" was present in the pit was ever made at the time.

A few months later two employees of a water well company installing a pressure system in a well pit northeast of Delburne, Alberta (NW 30-37-22-W4th) were almost overcome by "gas" from an extremely active "sucker and blower" well.

This incident caused us to investigate this phenomenon in more detail.

Observations:

Water wells that "suck and blow" are affected by barometric pressure.
When the barometric pressure is high they "suck" or take air in, when the barometric pressure is low they "blow" or expel the air.
In all of these wells there appears to be a point of equilibrium, that is to say at a certain point of barometric pressure they neither take air in nor expel the air.
The degree with which they "suck" or "blow" will vary. Some wells literally blow so hard that they are roaring and a shovelful of dirt or snow thrown above the casing will be blown away, while others seem to suck and blow very quietly and gently almost to the point of being unnoticeable.
The gas being expelled during the blowing stage is not flammable, nor will it support combustion or life. We also observed that it seemed to be in heavier concentrations near the bottom of the well pit.
The "gas" is odorless, tasteless and colorless.
The phenomenon seemed to be peculiar to a local specific area. We did not find very many water well drillers were aware of this circumstance.
From water well textbooks we learned that most ground water contains carbon dioxide in solution and for many years we speculated that that is what we were dealing with because it is heavier than air and would therefore settle in the bottom of the pit when the well was expelling air.

However, in July of 1999 an incident occurred which was to lead to more research to discover what we were dealing with in the suckers and blowers and in this process we were to determine that carbon dioxide was not the gas present in the well pit.

Investigation:

In July of 1999 two teenagers lost their lives upon entering a well pit to procure vegetables that were stored therein. This incident occurred southwest of Sylvan Lake, Alberta (NW 12-38-2-W5th).

The initial assumptions were that the vegetables in the well pit were rotting and emitting a "gas". The deaths were a result of oxygen deprivation.

Because of the constant temperature and humidity that exists in a well pit many well owners use them as a place for vegetable storage. Never in 40 years of involvement in many facets of the water well industry, have we encountered a build up of any type of gas in a well pit due to rotting vegetables in a strong enough concentration to cause suffocation by oxygen deprivation.

In this case (which I shall refer to as the Staudinger case) the vegetables in the well pit were not rotting, nor was there a significant amount of vegetables stored in the pit.

I will add here some comments relevant to vegetable storage in well pits and the new regulations in regard to wells and well pits in general.

In 1981 the Alberta Ground Water Development Act made it illegal to store perishable products in a well pit in which a water well was located.

We believe that the intent of the regulation was to prevent the origination and growth of bacteria which could enter the well and the aquifer.

In 1993 the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act made it illegal to locate a well in a well pit. However, these regulations are not widely known by well owners and, as with most legislation, the grandfathering clause allows wells to remain in well pits if they were there previous to the new legislation. All these regulations became part of Alberta's new Water Act as of January 1, 1999.

Over the last 30 years the development of the pitless adapter has solved the frost proofing problem as it relates to pumping equipment. The sucking and blowing wells may still present a problem but this is a freezing situation and not a gas problem. Because the casing extends above ground surface where a pitless adapter is used any gas coming from the well is released to the atmosphere as it rises to the surface.

Tests on the Staudinger pit on August 1st three weeks after the accident and three weeks after the vegetables were removed showed oxygen levels of only 5 percent at the lower levels in the pit. Oxygen levels of approximately 19% are necessary to support life. Tests also showed that carbon dioxide was not present in any significant levels. It was also observed the well was expelling air in a quiet manner.

Further testing by an accredited lab on August 9, 1999, revealed that oxygen levels of 15% were present in the lower levels of the pit. However, barometric conditions were changing, the day was sunny and bright and no movement of air at the well casing was detected.

Air samples were collected from 3 feet down inside the casing and a vacuum line was installed inside the casing. Another air sample was collected from the vacuum exhaust line.

Both of these air samples showed a 90% concentration of nitrogen.

In retrospect if these wells suck in atmospheric air, which is 78% nitrogen, then logic would say that nitrogen would be expelled. Atmospheric air contains 21% oxygen but obviously the oxygen is not being expelled in sufficient quantities to support life or combustion.

To determine what was happening and needing technical expertise we contacted Roger Clissold of Hydrogeological Consultants Ltd. in Edmonton, Alberta. Mr. Clissold has had some previous experience with these "suckers and blowers" and imparted to us a report which is appended to these notes.

Summation:

We believe the phenomenon of these blowing and sucking wells is not widely known or understood. It is also apparent that the danger they present when located in a well pit is also not well known or documented.

One must keep in mind that there are many wells located in well pits that do not necessarily pose a danger and it will be many years before we see the total demise of pits wherein water wells are located.

We firmly believe that studies should be done to determine in more detail the peculiarity of the suckers and blowers and how widespread this situation is. Knowledge and education about these wells could prevent further loss of life and the dangers of entering well pits or other confined spaces.

It is evident that the barometric pressure has an effect on the formation penetrated by the water well. Well construction can also be a factor and this is another aspect that should be studied to determine if the sucking and blowing condition can be eliminated or at least minimized through education and knowledge.