Protecting our Drinking Water
From the Hemlock Farms Community Newsletter. Hemlock Farms owns a precious resource – drinking water. Protecting this resource from contaminants requires careful and thoughtful planning based on best science and ongoing education.

The HFCA Water Company is operated by a Licensed Water Systems Operator and technicians who are trained to run the pumps and distribution system, and monitor the quality of our drinking water. We draw our drinking water from wells that tap into underground aquifers. Protecting our drinking water is an effort that reaches beyond the wells to the sources. The sources are groundwater, located in underground aquifers; and surface waters - such as streams, lakes, ponds, and vernal pools - that recharge the aquifers.

A preliminary assessment of potential contaminants to our drinking water was completed by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in 2003. This assessment was based on general hydro geological data and modeling, and lacked significant and collaborative community input into a planning process. HFCA contacted the Pennsylvania Rural Water Association (PRWA) who helped form the community's Steering Committee and urged us to reach out to interested parties beyond our boundaries. Judy Muehl was the Groundwater Technician from PRWA who demonstrated sensitive expertise in guiding our committee and facilitating our progress. Ms. Muehl deserves our deepest gratitude.

A cornerstone of the planning with PRWA was education and voluntary protection efforts. Through the Steering Committee, recommendations for action by the HFCA Board of Directors and Management were implemented to meet these cornerstones. A “World of Water” Contest promoted protection by everyone. Informative articles were placed in the Hemlock News. Posters, flyers, and brochures were distributed to raise awareness. Seminars were sponsored to educate the members. Codes were passed to protect our waters, such as the 50-foot riparian buffer code and the 20% impervious surfaces code. Enforcement of existing codes, such as restoration of natural vegetation along the lakefront properties, was strengthened. Scientific monitoring of our lakes by the Lake Watch Team occurs to minimize the amount of chemical control needed to provide pleasant recreational experiences and healthy aquatic ecosystems.

The Steering Committee also identified a need for better understanding of our aquifers and groundwater to best develop protection measures. PRWA recommended that HFCA seek technical assistance for a rigorous delineation of our aquifers, available under a new program called the Source Water Technical Assistance Program (SWPTAP). DEP hired the services of a firm with a licensed geologist to perform a hydrologic study and assist Hemlock Farms in developing a Source Water Protection (SWP) Plan for our water system.

A “rigorous delineation” for each of our wells specifically identifies the area that needs protection and provides credible documentation to alert residents and adjacent municipalities of the wellhead protection areas. From this knowledge, a realistic inventory of potential and known risks or contaminants was developed, and management options to address the risks were recommended, including an updated emergency response plan and new well sites.

Members of the Steering Committee, which is an ad hoc committee formed by the HFCA Board of Directors, can attest that the process of understanding the hydrologic study, providing data for the study, reviewing and providing input to the computer models generated by the study, reviewing and inventorying potential sources of contamination, and developing management options required much effort by many. The complexity of the project is encapsulated in the “Source Water Protection Plan for Hemlock Farms Community Association, Public Water Supplier ID #252003.” The plan is written in simple language, and supported by figures, tables and appendices. The graphic on this page is an example of the visual aids from the plan.

Where can you find out more? Al Guiseppe, PG from Spotts, Stevens and McCoy (SSM), the firm hired by DEP, will present the plan at the October 25th Town Meeting in Clubhouse. The licensed geologist is audience-friendly and capable of explaining the complexity in simple ways and answering your questions.