DPW Director Edward Huntley noted that city water users pay a sewer fee for every cubic foot of water that comes out of their pipes, whether it ends up in the sewer system or not.
NORTHAMPTON – Putting its money on the chance that not all years will be as wet as 2011, Florence Savings Bank has dug a well in downtown Florence to provide water for its lawn area.
Mark Cavanagh, the bank’s facilities director, said the work took place over a period of a little more than a week last month on a patch of land behind the ATM on Main Street. Workers were successful in their efforts to strike water and the well is now on line and hooked up to the sprinkler system.
According to Cavanagh, the 85 Main St. bank began looking at the well project last year, when a city-wide water ban kept it from using city water on its landscape area.
“It was a huge draw,” Cavanagh said. “This is a way to get off the public water supply.”
According to Department of Public Works Director Edward S. Huntley, it is highly unusual to dig a private well in an urban neighborhood such as downtown Florence, where city water lines abound.
“This is the third that I’m aware of that has attempted it,” Huntley said, adding that at least one of those other ventures failed to find water. Nonetheless, he said the venture makes sense, both from a conservation perspective and a financial one.
“How sustainable is taking treated water and watering your lawn with it?” he asked.
Huntley noted that city water users pay a sewer fee for every cubic foot of water that comes out of their pipes, whether it ends up in the sewer system or not. By using its own well water, Florence Savings Bank is doubling its savings.
Cavanagh did not disclose the cost of the project. He said, however, that the bank did a cost analysis before proceeding with the project.