Associate Professor,

Abstract — Increasing population growth and the impact of global climate change continue to place heavy demands on water quantity and quality. As such, there is growing concern about the availability of drinking water from clean, reliable sources. This concern is heightened due to the occurrence of karst topography and unconfined sand aquifers in the State of Tennessee. In such environments, the structural stability of groundwater sources, such as water wells, can be at greater risk of failing and allowing contaminants to infiltrate the water. These contaminants can be from either rural or urban areas, including agro and petrochemicals usage. Water wells (n=18) were selected at random from three counties in Middle Tennessee and observed with a down well camera, an emerging technology in water well design and construction. The down well camera was used to check for structural stability or emergent leaks and cracks in the well casing. Our results showed no sign of leaks at the casings or casing joints. However, bio-organisms were sighted in some wells. There was also an abundance of particulate matter as evident in the video, suggesting a biologically active ground water. Other chemotropic matter dissolved from soil minerals was also observed. Keywords-- groundwater, down well camera, water well, well casing, contaminants, non-point source pollution