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NGWA was proud to participate in the European Groundwater and Wells Association first meeting in Piacenza, Italy

Although separated by the distance of miles (or kilometers!) and language, NGWA was recently reminded the North American groundwater industry and its professions share much in common with the experiences and challenges of others around the world.

Recently, NGWA was invited to participate in an organizational meeting of a proposed entity tentatively titled the European Groundwater and Wells Association, or EGA. EGA Meeting

Representing NGWA were 2012 President John Pitz, CPI and CEO Kevin McCray.

The EGA proposes to be formed as a confederation, similar to how it seems the provincial associations in Canada formed the Canadian Ground Water Association.

The European national associations attending the first meeting December 12 – 13, at Piacenza, Italy were Austria, Belgium, Croatia (in the process of forming), France (2 groups, although one serves only the industry in the southeastern region of the nation), Hungary, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Piacenza is the site of the biannual GeoFluids trade fair.

The organizers of the effort were the board volunteers of Associazione Nationale Idrogeologia Pozzi Acqua, the Italian equivalent to NGWA. Like NGWA, ANIPA represents all industry professions. NGWA has had a cooperation agreement with ANIPA for several years, as it has had with one other group in Europe, the Finnish Well Drillers Association.

With simultaneous translation in Italian, English, French, and German, the roughly 125 registrants heard a limited number of scientific and technical presentations, as well as statements in support of the development of European Union-wide standards for water well construction and geothermal heat pump systems. European Union member nation professionals seem to have the challenge of meeting EU expectations, national government expectations, as well as regional government, and local government expectations.

As might be expected when the meeting was convened and hosted in Italy, the presenters were largely Italians, but not all.

Among the speakers were Vittorio D’Oriano, vice president of Italy’s National Geology Council, Piero Barazzuoli, Ph.D., University of Siena (Italy), Fulvio Celico, Ph.D., Universita degli Studi de Parma (Italy), and representatives of Syndacat National des Entrepreneurs de Puits et Forages d’Eau (France), Association Syndacale des Entreprises de Forages (France), Vereingung Osterreichischer Bohr, Brunnedbau und Spezialtiefbauunternehmungen (Austria), Federation Wallone des Enterprises de forage (Belgium).

The invited NGWA message, delivered by McCray, was largely that members of NGWA share many of the interests and problems as other nations, but perhaps due to the size of the larger U.S. market, NGWA is a larger association.

McCray detailed how NGWA is already addressing several of EGA’s stated preliminary goals, including our development of standards for water well and loop well construction, and for industry personnel, NGWA best suggested practices, public awareness programs, and business management tools and instruction.

McCray and Pitz expressed NGWA’s desire to work with EGA and its members for mutual benefit, offering a number of ideas for early collaboration, suggesting that finding successes through less challenging projects will create momentum for tackling more complex efforts.

At present, geothermal heat pump systems are occupying a significant portion of the work of the Italian drilling community, according to Claudio Guareschi, chairman of ANIPA. Loop wells are the largest percentage of that work, although there are significant number of open loop installations around the country, with 155 in the Milan region alone, often in larger diameters approaching as much as 20 inches.

Finding a qualified workforce is a challenge in Italy and other European countries as there is, according to some attending the EGA event, a dispersion toward those who work with their hands and minds together, rather than just with their minds alone.

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No Recently, NGWA was invited to participate in an organizational meeting of a proposed entity tentatively titled the European Groundwater and Wells Association, or EGA. Representing NGWA were 2012 President John Pitz, CPI and CEO Kevin McCray.

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