Waterford Park Water Supply Well Study

Waterford Park is a proposed water sports park offering adventure, not slides. Its feasibility rested on establishing a dependable groundwater supply at the 57-acre site. The property is mostly situated within the Richmond Triassic Basin, a notoriously low-yielding geologic region. Schnabel was contacted by the developer’s design team after requests to the county to provide a supplied public water source were denied.

We performed geologic reconnaissance of the site, an inventory of local public water supply records, and a fracture trace analysis of the site to identify favorable well sites to supply the park. The water park attractions required 10 MG/yr of water, while additional water demands were required for maintaining levels within a 28 MG ski/wake lake during summer months.

After staking five well sites across the property in areas that would not conflict with proposed park feature construction, we subcontracted certified water well drillers to drill the three highest ranked sites. Our geologists observed, sampled, and logged all well drilling and well construction. We performed 24-hour aquifer tests in the wells to further assess the sustainability of estimated yields and laboratory analyzed water quality samples. The data we gathered during aquifer testing was evaluated using computer software to estimate aquifer properties of transmissivity and storativity. The two highest yielding wells were constructed to public water supply construction specifications to meet anticipated future park expansion needs.

Our service at this geologically challenging site resulted in an aggregate water supply network that is capable of producing more than twice the volume of water demand required by the proposed water sports park. We also provided recommendations for water filtration to meet the project’s high water quality needs.