Dry weather and staying home more could lead to more dry wells in Southwest Florida

The lack of rain could mean some people on well water could end up forking out thousands to drill a new well.

Wells in some areas are already starting to run dry.

Marc Berry of Cape Coral said he noticed his family’s well started drying up about three weeks ago. “Last year, I had a little example of how bad it was, but this year has gone above and beyond that.”

Now, they have to use jugs to bring water back to their home. “I have kids here. You got to have water,” Berry said.

As for Cape Coral’s Tina Becker, she said after some work, her new well now works, “You have several people in the home and it’s a little crippling, and of course having to get a new well financially was a bit rough.”

WINK News Meteorologist Brittany Van Voorhees explains, “Rainfall totals in 2020 so far have been very, very low. Fort Myers is actually about five inches below where they should be so far.”

Pair drier weather with people spending more time at home it can exacerbate the problem.

David Cannestra, owner of Crystal Clear Water Purification Inc. makes online videos teaching viewers how to maintain their water system.

“It just keeps getting lower and lower and everybody’s in trouble,” Cannestra explains, “We have a test you can do, run as much water as you can for five, ten minutes, run your irrigation and seeing if the water actually fluctuates. That way you can find the problem before it happens.”

In the meantime, people like Berry hope for a long-term solution, “We’ve got to get the city water going.”

A city utilities extension project is underway and a Cape Coral spokesperson tells us the city hopes to have a majority of the project completed by summer.