In case you have not yet run across us, Ground Water Science has a presence on both Facebook and LinkedIn social media sites.

If you are on Facebook, type "Ground Water Science" ("ground water" is two words, remember) in the search box and we come up. We have some loyal fans or "likers". Feel free to join in. I post pictures, links and notices there. As a "liker" you can post photos and comments and participate in discussions. No one has felt the urge to do so yet.

I also maintain a LinkedIn profile to build connections there in that more professional space. LinkedIn groups have active discussions, and I contribute at times. It can help somebody out and I learn a thing or two and discover new and interesting people with valuable skills. 

We at Ground Water Science like to build teams to solve problems, and among my contacts we can quickly build a team to meet your need for services. Keep that in mind. 

I really see no point in having a Twitter account as who cares about my random thoughts on a day to day basis?

If you are on Facebook or LinkedIn, feel free to make connections, but on FB, don't bother me with "post this in your profile" or your Farmville, Mafia Wars, etc. I waste too much time there anyway, but it helps me keep up with family and old friends. 

Allen domesn't do any social media, in case you were looking. 

There have been a lot of commentaries in journalistic circles lately on the impending end of free content on the internet. If we think about it, the last decade featuring substantive content free for the taking has been an odd period.

Books have been printed since the 15th Century, and they have been sold to buyers. The innovation of the public lending library, of course, provides access to content for free for a period of time. 

Magazines and newspapers were available by paid subscription or per copy - or you borrowed it at the library or thumbed through copies in office waiting areas. 

The related area of technical content (for example, scientific and engineering journals) also came by subscription.

Until recently, music performance and written music content was sold: Performance as recordings (since the start of the 20th Century) and written music by the sheet or in collections. 

"Search" has been free via search engines such as Google, but the perform poorly when seeking specialized technical content. For that, one should turn to specialty search utilities available by subscription, just like in the old days (remember Chemical Abstracts? They still do the job).

We offer some free content on this web site for your reference. We intend it to be useful. We also sell some references and our hard copy books from CRC Press. We're not heartlessly greedy - we make a living by our wits. This is also true of artists who compose and perform music and other kinds of authors. Content has value, but maybe more to the point, content providers have value. If no one can make a living providing content, who will? 

A valid question is "what is fair one-time use value?" If I download one article from a journal or a website, what is that worth? Maybe it is worth a lot to me if I manage to patent something! Otherwise, this is pretty much left to the provider to attach a valuation. That is as it should be. Otherwise, work an end around - befrend a librarian, for example. 

We would like to hear from you: What would you like from us in the form of for-pay or subscription content? With our experience, we can generate it. Is it worth something to you, and what would be valuable to you? 

Since 1997, we have maintained two offices, first in Ada and Bluffton, Ohio, and then in Bluffton and Upper Sandusky, Ohio, with Ada and Upper Sandusky, respectively (my offices) serving as our main physical address. Because we are a small practice with limited empire structure, these offices are on the partners' properties. For family reasons, we Smiths are relocating from Upper Sandusky (my wife's career tends to result in a relocation about every 10-15 years). Fortunately for us, we quickly sold our property, but this move required first a temporary, then a permanent move. Allen is not going anywhere and it seemed best to focus our center in Bluffton (Blanchard River watershed). Our accounts payable and receivable address will remain the same (Upper Sandusky post office box).

Also, look for a new main telephone number. This HQ transfer was essentially completed by 22 November. We enjoyed our time in Upper Sandusky (Sandusky River watershed), wish the community well, and plan to be frequent visitors (family and friends, including our accountant, are in the area). Stuart will be working most of the time at his Poland, Ohio, office (Mahoning River watershed). Thank you for your patience during this transition.

Late this summer, when visiting my wife's mother outside of Greenville, Ohio, I noticed the "No CO2 Waste in Darke" signs along the road and was naturally intrigued. I had not been following the geologic carbon dioxide sequestration scene very closely. When I looked into it, I found that the Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership had been working with The Andersons to develop a geologic sequestration test site, utilizing waste carbon dioxide from their ethanol plant near Greenville, Ohio. The project was being managed by my old (way back) employer, Battelle Memorial Institute, which has some expertise in geologic waste sequestration.

The idea was to pump CO2 into the Mt. Simon formation, an "aquifer" deep below, and generally isolated from, fresh water aquifers. The Mt. Simon already receives industrial wastes, injected under the supervision of EPA Underground Injection Control. Speaking as a geologic scientist, such a test would be intriguing.

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.  

Here in Ohio (like other jurisdictions I suppose) we have state requirements for training contact hours. While I was prepping for a seminar last year, I received an email happily announcing free 6-hr contact hour days and it struck a nerve. They are repeating the offer in 2010. Yeah! Even more "free" training... So the process of devaluing training goes in this state. The default contact hour value goes to junk bond status. If the objective is accumulating 12 or so contact hours, why pay for it if you can string together a few booth talk trips here, an ORWA course there? ORWA - the same people bring you free hydrogeology performed by circuit riders. 

And they want us to pay big bucks for a booth at their show...