Features Associations Business
Thirst for knowledge alive and well at CanWell

June 13, 2014, Kelowna, B.C. – Drillers, suppliers,
academics and other ground water industry stakeholders soaked up knowledge
along with the sun and changeable Kelowna weather at the CanWell convention and
trade show.

About 300 people attended the show, and while
those numbers are down from previous years, there was plenty of interest in
recent industry developments in the ground water industry, drilling and
rehabilitation techniques, and best practices.

The British Columbia Ground Water
Association hosted the conference, which took place at the Delta Okanagan Resort from June 10-14. This year’s event provided two streams of educational talks: trade
and professional/technological. The variety seemed to be satisfying all association
attendees, many of whom said the sessions are informative, and in some cases,
eye-opening.

Among speakers on the
professional/technological side, Dr. Allan Chapman, a hydrologist with the B.C.
Oil & Gas Commission, presented a talk entitled “Enhancements
in Groundwater Knowledge and Groundwater Management in Northeast British
Columbia.” Dr. Chapman went over recent research and pointed out that the
commission recently launched a Water Information Portal that pools data and displays
it using flexible charts and analytical tools to assist users to understand and
apply it.

On the trade side, Jim Bailey, well
services director for U.S. consultants Shannon & Wilson, presented
a lively description of impulse technology, which entails rehabilitating wells
by destabilizing the surrounding fines. Bailey, who has worked with Pigati in
Berlin on cutting-edge rehabilitation projects, demonstrated how alternating
the method’s use with other techniques such as swabbing and surging often delivers
more effective results than using the method exclusively.

Perhaps the most talked-about session was
Thursday’s open forum on forming a new national association. About 50 people attended the informal meeting where stakeholders share their opinions about the
value of forming a new association. Bruce Ingimundson, president of the British
Columbia Ground Water Association, said organizers wanted to provide a setting to
discuss the possibility of forming a new association on the principle that “if
you have seven drillers in the room, you’ll get eight opinions.” Kevin
Constable, former president of the now-defunct Canadian Ground Water
Association, summarized the events leading up to the shuttering of the association,
and several drillers shared their thoughts. An informal show of hands indicated
those in the room were unanimously in favour of moving forward to create a new
national body.

Ingimundson said he was encouraged by the healthy
turnout. “I got the sense that there is a real desire to rebuild an association
and to have some kind of link between the provinces, said Ingimundson. It may
take on a different structure and it will probably start on small scale, he
added, but the interest is there.

With its opportunities for learning and
catching up with friends, a round of new products and several impressive rigs
on display, CanWell clearly had something for everyone.

Longtime driller Ken Slade’s rhetorical
comment may have summed it up best: “What don’t I like?”