Drought and Your Well

Drought conditions can develop slowly, over months and years, or more quickly over a few weeks. Drought does not affect all water sources equally. Someone with a deep bedrock well may not be affected by a severe drought, while their neighbor who uses a spring may run out of water during a mild drought.  

If you get your water from a private water source, like a well or spring, drought may affect the quality or quantity of your water supply. Certain inorganic contaminants can become more concentrated in drought conditions. The risk of contamination from bacteria also increases during drought.  

Your well or spring might not be able to keep up with the amount of water you use, and in some cases, it can run dry. There are some things you can do to manage your water supply during drought. 

Here are some simple steps to help you use less water during a drought, which will help keep your well from failing or running dry:  

• Check for and fix any leaks.
• Take shorter showers.
• Match the water level to the size of the load of laundry.
• Run the dishwasher with full loads only.
• Turn the water off when brushing teeth, washing hands and doing dishes.
• Install low-flow faucet aerators, showerheads and toilets and install water-efficient washing machines and dishwashers.
  Look for the WaterSense label
• Cut back on — or cut out — outdoor water use such as watering your lawn, watering your landscaping or washing your car.

Did you know that you can use a bucket of water to flush a toilet? Dump about one gallon of water into the toilet bowl all at once, and the toilet will flush. Collect water in a bucket while you are waiting for the shower to warm up or fill up a bucket to rinse your dishes in and use that water to flush your toilet.

Check out more water conservation tips

A well fails when it cannot provide enough water for your needs. Well failure may be caused by a shortage of water due to drought and can also be caused by other problems associated with the well parts, like casing, valves, waterlines, pumps or pressure tanks.

Private water systems that are more likely to fail during drought include:

• Springs
• Dug wells
• Shallow bedrock wells
• Wells located near hill tops or other high areas
• Wells constructed in areas where bedrock is close to the ground surface

Learn more about different types of wells

You may not know the water level in your well. However, you can tell if your well is failing or starting to run dry if you notice one or more of these signs: 

• A drop in water pressure
• Air bubbles in your water
• Cloudy, “dirty” or sediment-filled water
• No water

If you are experiencing any of these signs, try to address them immediately. It might not be possible to fix well issues in the winter, or it could be more expensive.

It is important to work with a licensed pump installer or well driller to find out the cause of the problem and to find a solution. Find a licensed well driller

If your well is failing or it has run dry, you may be desperate to find a source of water for yourself and your family. Here are some things to consider to make sure the temporary water supply is safe to drink:

• Do not share water between homes by interconnecting two homes’ plumbing systems. Backflow pressure may cause bacteria to travel from one home into the other home.
• Do not use water from a hose for drinking or cooking, since it may have bacteria or other contaminants in it. Hose water may be used for bathing, washing clothes, cleaning, and flushing toilets.
• Please note that roadside springs are not considered a safe source of water for drinking and cooking (or other ways of swallowing water). Roadside springs are frequently contaminated by bacteria or other germs that can make people sick. However, as a last resort during an emergency water outage, roadside springs may offer a temporary solution.   
  • It is okay to use water from roadside springs for bathing, washing clothes, and flushing toilets.
  • Boil water for one minute before using it for drinking, cooking, washing fruits and vegetables, brushing teeth, and making ice cubes and concentrated juices.
    • Even after boiling water from a roadside spring, there could be health risks, especially for infants, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems.  
• Disinfect your well after completing any work on the water system. Test your water for bacteria after shock chlorination. Learn how to shock chlorinate your well
• Test your water if you notice changes in your water, like cloudiness, color or smell. Droughts can affect water quality in many ways. Learn more about testing your well water

In Vermont, most private wells are either a dug well or a drilled well. Dug wells are usually more susceptible to drought than drilled wells. Since dug wells are shallow, they are usually the first wells to dry up during drought. It may take a while for drilled wells to dry up during a drought, but it may also take them a longer time to recover after a drought. Learn more about different types of wells

If your well is failing from a lack of water, these options may help:

• Lower the pump or pump intake.
• Increase the tank size to provide additional water storage.
• Deepen the existing well.
• Construct a new well (check the private well layer on the Vermont Natural Resources Atlas, where you can see the depths and yields of other wells in the area to determine if there is good chance of a new well supplying enough water).
• Hydro-fracture the existing bedrock well to increase the water supply.

Drinking water springs are more commonly impacted by drought conditions. Springs are often highly connected to surface water or shallow water-bearing layers. If your spring fails, you may need to consider having a well drilled.

It is important to work with a licensed pump installer or well driller to find out the cause of the problem and to find a solution. Find a licensed well driller

Make sure to keep records of any work that is done on your well or water system. If you do not know where your well is, check the private well layer on Vermont Natural Resources Atlas, or look up well completion reports on the Well Completion Report Searchable Database. Be sure to mark the well’s exact location with a location marker that can be found during all seasons. Learn about how to find information on your well

Here are some things you can do in the short-term if your well is failing or running dry:

• Fill food-safe containers with water from a known safe source, like the town library, town hall, fire department, school, church or town office, with permission from the building owner or water supplier. Contact your local emergency management director to help you find a source.
• Buy bottled water.
• Shower at a gym, school or workplace.
• You can use water from a roadside spring for bathing, washing clothes and flushing toilets. Roadside springs are not a safe source of water for drinking or cooking.
• Buy water from a bulk water hauler and fill up a water tank. Find a list of bulk water haulers or search the internet for "bulk water haulers Vermont." Make sure the water hauler only uses the equipment for potable drinking water, that the water comes from a regulated Public Community Water System and that they test the water for adequate disinfectant levels.

Do not fill wells with water delivered by a water hauler. Adding water to a dry well will usually not restore the water level because the water may dissipate back into the ground before it can be used. Adding water can also cause damage to your well or contaminate the groundwater for your home and nearby homes. 

You do not need running water to flush a toilet. You can use a bucket of water to flush it, including water from roadside springs or greywater (wastewater from bathroom sinks, bathtubs, showers and clothes washing machines). Dump about one gallon of water into the toilet bowl all at once, and the toilet will flush. See the conserve water section for more tips.

You can report a water shortage using this tool and see areas of the state where water shortages have been reported on the Agency of Natural Resources Drinking Water Drought Reporter.

The tool also allows the Agency of Natural Resources to compile drought data and identify areas vulnerable to drought. It provides a valuable early warning tool for you and your neighbors to know if you should start to conserve water.

Funding is available to help you pay for water treatment or to fix your water system. Learn more about financial assistance programs and eligibility