SAN ANGELO, Texas — The summer drought has made water supply from wells tougher for homeowners both inside and outside of their homes.
More than 43 million Americans rely on private wells as their source of water in their homes.
Homeowner Jaxine Boling says the summer drought has affected her water supply.
“At the time we moved out here, well water was our only source," Boling said. "We've noticed that the well water levels have gone down a little bit, that our pressure is not as strong from the well that it has been. But also around us, farmers are starting to irrigate instead of dryland farming."
Boling gets her well serviced by Abel Water Systems in San Angelo.
The majority of the calls coming in at the company have been coming from homeowners needing to restore their water supply.
“It would be hundreds and hundreds. I wouldn't even know where to start. And there's no end in sight,” Co-Owner Clark Abel explained.
The company has had to re-drill well pumps for families who lost their water supply thanks to the summer drought in West Texas. These low water well levels could have a huge impact on everyone’s day-to-day life.
“A lot of them are suffering, lowering water levels, and going dry. It's impacting a lot of homeowners pretty drastically. This is a rural country, so a big percentage is on well water," Abel said.
"Most of your cities are on well water. People don't realize that. They think they just turn the faucet on and it magically happens. But no, it comes out of the ground."
Abel added the recent rainfall has been great but West Texas will need a lot more to get well levels where they need to be.
For homeowners using water wells, Texas A&M specialists recommend they monitor their pumps.
Depending on the depth of the well, have the water tested regularly (during and after a drought) and conserve water to preserve the well’s resources (during drought).