Franklin County water well testing summary released

The official testing summary for three wells at the Franklin County prison site posted online earlier this week show a wide range of yields between the wells, along with slightly acidic water.

The Advocate previously reported that the two test wells drilled by the Department of Corrections to test if the groundwater in the area could support the prison yielded two gallons per minute and ten gallons per hour, based on a state database of well construction reports.

However, versions of those reports included with the testing summary, which is dated Aug. 19 but wasn’t received by the department’s spokesperson until earlier this week, indicated one of the test wells yielded ten gallons per minute, rather than per hour.

Rand Champion, the corrections department’s spokesperson, attributed the discrepancy to likely human error when the well construction reports were put into the database. He said to his knowledge, all of the flowrates were meant to be “per minute.” The correct amount for one well is ten gallons per minute.

In the prior reporting, the Advocate asked the department multiple times for clarity on whether the yields reported in the online database were accurate. Champion said at the time that all numbers were preliminary, but did not answer questions about whether there was any reason to believe the database entries were inaccurate.

A third well included in the testing report existed on the property prior to the state’s purchase of it in 2024. That well yielded approximately 15-16 gallons of water per minute, according to the summary. The department’s contractors tested the well to determine the recharge of the aquifer it draws water from. According to the summary, the recharge rate was approximately 12.5 gallons per minute.

Still, the flow is well below what would be necessary for the prison.

Additionally, while running that test, the contractors noted that “when the pump initially began pumping, the produced raw water exhibited a strong sulfur odor and reddish-brown to reddish-orange color.” After five minutes, the water cleared and the smell “dissipated significantly.”

A water sample was sent by the contractors for testing. The results, according to the summary, show that the water is slightly acidic, with a pH of 5.5. Lemon juice has a pH that ranges from 2-3.

EPA’s non-enforceable guidelines for drinking water say pH should be between 6.5 and 8.5.

Testing done by the Arkansas Department of Health found that total coliform bacteria was present in the water sample it was sent, but not e. Coli.