It is with great sadness that we report the death of George Alford of Daytona Beach, FL (Obituary). George was an original and creative contributor to the art and science of diagnosing biofouling, cleaning it up, especially under difficult situations, and promoting maintenance to prevent or mitigate recurrence.

George was one of the original people in the field, and a genuine self-taught expert. In the late 1970s, he set out to learn all he could about this "iron bacteria" problem. He first contacted me in 1981, as I recall it, when I was on the staff of the National Water Well Association (now NGWA), after I wrote a couple of articles in the Water Well Journal as a newly minted staff expert on what we now call well biofouling. We have compared notes, collaborated, taught some courses, and generally stayed in touch about important stuff ever since. I thought he might beat this challenge too, but it was not to be. 

George was in on numerous inventions and contributions to the practice, including better mixtures for biofouling removal, perfecting the equipment to apply heated solutions in wells, and helping to promote maintenance as a practice to prevent out-of-control well clogging (still a new idea to many people). We are diminished by his passing. 

We thank his bride and family for sharing him with us. 

We also just now belatedly learned of the November 2008 death of Dr. Otto Helweg (obituary), a major contributor to the science and engineering of well hydraulics, as well as being a great Christian humanitarian and academician. He was 72. I only physically met him once and found him to be warm, gracious, and professional. Again, we are saddened and diminished here on this side by his passing.