April 13, 2017
Ontario

‘I just want someone to do something’ says Chatham-Kent man without well water

Heather Wright, The Herald, Wednesday, April 5, 2017

When Theresa and Lorne Pumfrey bought their home on Bush Line, water was the last thing on their mind.

The small home on less than an acre had a well which had worked well for years. But last June, contractors set up about 900 meters from their home and started building a meteorological tower for the North Kent One Wind Farm. That’s when things started changing, according to Lorne.

First, he says, the water was cloudy. They had the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change run some tests and they said everything was within their guidelines.

Lorne says the water always had some cloudiness but it wasn’t until Feb. 24 that things went seriously wrong.

Pumfrey pulls out his phone and shows a video of his toilet flushing.

Theresa began shuttling their three young boys to friends and families for baths or to do laundry and spent a lot of her day getting water for the house while Lorne was on the job as a trucker.

Plumbers told the couple to let the water run until it was clean, but after four days, the water was still black.

Theresa asked the plumber what they should do. “He said ‘Well, you have a nice garage to put a poly tank in.’”

The Pumbfreys went out and bought about $4,000 worth of equipment including that big blue water tank and began hauling water to their home. They haven’t received their first bill yet, so they don’t know how much the water is costing, but Lorne says they’re using about 500 to 600 gallons a week.

The Pumfreys have solved their water problem temporarily on their own but they want to know who is going to help them find out what happened to their well.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2017/04/13/i-just-want-someone-to-do-something-says-chatham-kent-man-without-well-water/