OLYMPIA, Washington—In this small west coast town of not quite 50,000 people, they are serious about their water. The slogan It’s the Water coined by the local Olympia Brewing company in 1902 still rings true today, although the brewery shut down several years ago.
The source of this water, an artesian well that has been flowing for almost a century, has recently faced challenges to its very existence. Artesian wells flow upwards out of an aquifer without pumping. They are generally utilized by drilling a pipe into an aquifer and the subterranean pressure is enough to drive the water to the surface.
“Olympia has always been famous for really good water, why not turn it into a tourist destination?“ said Deborah Wilson, a college adviser, while getting water from the well. ”When some people lose power they do not have any water and they can come down here to get it here, I think that’s really important.”
Olympia used to have 96 free flowing artesian wells in its downtown area, but the town’s growth exceeded the amount of water that could be provided by these wells. As health concerns increased, many were capped, leaving less than 10 still flowing.
Countless public sources of water all over the country have been capped or lost to history, many through the fear of liability issues should a situation occur. However, more and more people are interested in keeping resources in the public domain.
In Olympia’s quaint downtown, a small bronze pipe comes out of the pavement and pours several gallons of pure water every minute onto a parking lot before it flows into a storm drain. The water is free of contaminants—unlike most sources of surface water—and it bears a trace amount of magnesium, allowing hydrologists to date this water to about 2,000 years old.
Hundreds of people from the surrounding area come every day to collect water to drink in their homes. The well is on a piece of property owned by a parking service, who allow the well to remain free-flowing as long as the water is tested monthly.
A local grassroots organization, Friends of the Artesian (FOTA), had been ensuring the water is suitable for drinking by raising donations for the monthly testing cost. FOTA had drawn up many proposals and presented them to the City of Olympia and the Public Utilities District (PUD) to try and create a public park so this source of water could always remain free-flowing.
They were met with failure time and time again, so earlier this year announced that they would be disbanding. Upon hearing the news, the owners of the parking lot that the well is located, Diamond Parking Services, threatened to cap the well within 30 days of the last water test. Olympian residents quickly rose to the challenge, forming a group that called themselves It’s Still the Water, and shortly thereafter changed their name to H2Oly, filling the vacuum left by FOTA.
H2Oly discovered that the average number of visitors to the well exceeded 250 per day. They went to the City of Olympia and PUD armed with the numbers and the voices of many who wanted the water to remain available to the community. A deal was struck between the City, the PUD, and Diamond Parking Service, and the well still flows today.
“My body is not very good at getting rid of chemicals and heavy metals, so this is mostly a health issue for me,“ said local designer, Ingrid, as she filled several glass jugs with water. ”I have been to different places in Europe and they still have public drinking wells, I would be sad if we lost this one.”
It’s looking hopeful that Olympian residents will get to keep their well as the city and business interests involved have expressed a desire to work together to create a park for people to come and enjoy this natural wonder.
