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TextWell Mapping
Fairfax County Health Department's
Well Mapping Project
The Division of Environmental Health of the Fairfax County Health
Department is in the final stages of mapping the existing water wells
within the County. The field data collection stage of the project is
complete. The final stage consists of a quality assurance and quality
control process to check for data accuracy and consistency.
In our ongoing efforts to improve our ability to
protect groundwater sources and the public's health, the Fairfax County
Health Department (FCHD) has initiated a countywide project to precisely
locate all private drinking water wells in the county.
An informational notice was mailed to approximately 13,000 homes in
Fairfax County that Health Department records indicated were being served
by a water well. The purpose of the letter was to advise homeowners about
the survey and what to expect during the survey.
The survey team has visited each
property to precisely record the well location using a Global Positioning
System (GPS) unit. The purpose of this project is to create a Geographic
Information System (GIS) database. This GIS database will allow the
Health Department to quickly and precisely identify groundwater wells
that could be impacted by future road improvements, construction
activities, sewer system installations, contamination incidents such as
spills, etc. Ultimately, this GIS-enhanced ability will help the Health
Department provide improved service and protect more than 50,000 county
residents who derive their drinking water from a private well.
FCHD has contracted the services of Michael Baker, Jr., Inc. (Baker) to
complete the countywide field data collection effort. Baker has been a
national leader in the GIS\GPS field for over 20 years. During this time,
Baker has mapped approximately 1.5 million square miles of the Earth's
surface. Baker personnel visited each property identified as having a
well and will spend approximately 90 seconds at each well location in
order to collect precise GPS coordinates for the well. The well head was
not be opened or impacted in any way during this process. The Fairfax
County Police Department had been advised of this project and of the
presence of the Baker Personnel in your neighborhood.
You may
e-mail any questions about this project to the Fairfax County Health
Department or call 703-246-2201 for more information.
Thank you for your time, patience and consideration in this
project.
Dr. Gloria Addo-Ayensu
Director of Health
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