By John Henderer, The Chronicle, 3/5/99
Citing health concerns, Lewis County is advising some Centralia-area residents to boil their well water.
Soils in the Fords Prairie and Waunch Prairie areas have become so saturated, an underground flood now threatens to contaminate private wells.
Incessant, heavy rainfall has pushed the water table to the surface, said Jim Goode, county environmental services manager.
''It's just not ponded (surface) water,'' Goode said. ''It's ground water.''
Residents in these areas who rely on private wells should assume their water is contaminated and boil their drinking water for at least three minutes, he said.
Lewis County offers to test residents' well water for a fee. Customers must purchase a specially prepared bottle from the county for drawing a sample, and must return it to the county's Environmental Services Division, 350 N. Market Blvd., Chehalis.
The fee for the bottle and testing is $18.
For information, call the county's water lab at 740-1237.
Wells in Fords Prairie and Waunch Prairie sit in permeable, rocky soil deposited by glacial outwash.
The ground is unusual because it has no restrictive layer, Goode said.
Most soil has a clay-type biological barrier several feet below the surface, impeding surface water from pouring through to deeper groundwater aquifers.
In the past, this soil has prompted concerns when septic system proliferation threatened the deeper water supply. Waste water sinks rapidly in the soil, contaminating the fresh water. And when saturated, the ground water also rises just as quickly, overtopping wells or invading well casings.
Goode said he could not recall a similar problem occurring without a major flood such as the February 1996 event.
Residents of the Grand Mound and Rochester areas also sit on glacial outwash soils and may be experiencing the same problems, he said.
John Henderer covers county government and environmental issues for The Chronicle. He can be reached by e-mail at jhenderer@chronline.com or by calling 807-8239.
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