Groundbreaking Invention Keeps Wells and Wallets from Running Dry

RALEIGH, N.C., Dec. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagine turning on your faucet only to find there's no water flowing. Your well has run dry, and you have to pay tens of thousands of dollars to fix it. That's the scary scenario for communities grappling with drought, and it's a potential danger for the 43 million Americans nationwide on well water (15% of population).

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One North Carolina scientist has invented a first-of-its-kind device to test well water levels to make sure families, schools, farms and communities never run dry. Steve Judd's Well Watch 600, a portable meter that measures water levels digitally, replaces laborious, potentially unsanitary old-school methods for measuring well water levels.

Eno Scientific's Well Watch 600 is mounted on the outside of the well -- or even in the house -- and measures well water levels with sound waves. The device eliminates the need to lower a foreign object into the well, risking possible contamination, damage and repair costs from entangling the well pump's equipment and wiring. The device, which can sound an alarm when well levels run low, ranges in cost from $350-$479.

"I didn't want to manually measure my well water level on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis, so I found a more automated, cost effective solution with the Well Watch," said Michael Rowe, a well water user in the Santa Cruz Mountains in California.

It all started in 2007 when North Carolina had a drought and Judd, on his 180-acre Hillsborough, N.C., farm, spent thousands of dollars to repair two pumps that broke when water levels in his well ran dangerously low.

"I set out to invent something to help my family and my farm, and it turned out to become a device that helps homeowners, business owners and communities across the globe," Judd said.

Eno Scientific has sold some 4,000 professional grade Well Sounder Well Watch devices to government agencies, schools, cities, farmers and golf courses across the globe. The Well Watch 600 is a less expensive and less elaborate device for homeowners.

• In 2010 during a drought, the government of Wake County, North Carolina, purchased dozens of Well Watch units after residents complained their water levels were running low because of new development.
• Preferred Pump, a national supplier, has purchased dozens of Eno Scientific well products that they have distributed to their customers, drillers, farmers and contractors all across the United States.
• The Well Watch products have also made their impact internationally. Brian Foley is a distributor in Australia and has sold dozens of the Well Watch products, mostly to farmers who legally need to monitor their well levels in that country.

"The device protects people from low well water levels and from development, which could cause geological shifts that change the water supply," Judd said. "Without a device like this, homeowners could not prove when their well started running low."

Media Contact:

Scott Curkin, [email protected] 919.459.8165

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SOURCE Eno Scientific