Drinking water is something most of us take for granted in a country like Canada. But once you get out of bigger cities and towns with water provided to the house from central lines, the proposition of where you get your H2o becomes a bit more of a question.
For many cottage owners in the Muskoka region, the answer is adjacent to the property. A simple intake pipe and pump system, through a filter and you can have all the water you want for the cost of some hydro. But if the lake is not an option, then drilling becomes the next answer.
Norm Yearly is the owner of Hammond Drilling and he says many people need to get to the aquifer that lays somewhere under the bedrock and it is not an easy job to get to it.
The geology of the Muskoka region is similar to the Precambrian shield. Thick granite must be drilled through to get to the spring water. Yearly says years ago, it was a slow job getting through it all:
He says in a lot of instances they will hit water after 200 feet, but there are times when they go more than double that, maxing out the drill rig’s abilities. He says when you finally hit water, it is not like the geyser you see on an oil rig, but there are big signs you have hit the sweet spot:
Moose FM asked about the ancient practice of dowsing rods, which are two pieces of bent wire held in the hands of a person looking for the location of water. When they cross over a water point the wires will cross on their own, with no input from the person. Yearly says he doesn’t do it but he keeps dowsing rods in his truck in case a customer wants to take a turn, as a woman did recently on her property:
Yearly says finding the water is not the issue in most cases, but finding a spot convenient to the house that falls within ministry guidelines is the key. Water sources cannot be too close to septic systems which starts narrowing options.