Taking a break from his normal columns, Porky Cutter talks about what seriously concerns him.

Years ago, who would have thought we'd be paying more for bottled water than gasoline?
This article is a bit different than my usual articles, but it does cause me serious concerns. It has been said that we have the same amount of water today that we had when time began, and we will have the same amount of water when time ends. How we take care of our water today determines how much usable water we will have in the future.

Today we unknowingly and knowingly contaminate our surface water and ground water. Many of our states approve and require the building of storm drain ponds (known as better management practice or BMPs) or dry wells. These ponds generally penetrate the first underlying sands that hold our perched water table (shallow water). This runoff water contaminated with chemicals penetrates directly through the sands and into our perched water table. This means that to get safe drinking water, we must drill to a deeper aquifer. I understand the state of Florida currently is pumping raw sewage into a cavern some 2,000-plus feet into the ground. Is this a good idea? I think not.

Fifty years ago, we could drink water directly from our creeks, streams and rivers. Today, most of them are contaminated with chemicals and are unsafe to drink from without treating first.

Our well waters are becoming more threatened day by day. We, as individuals, contractors and as communities, must get involved and learn how to protect our above and below ground water.

Who would have thought years ago that we would be buying bottled water today? Who would have thought we would be paying more for bottled water than we pay for gasoline?

In the not too far future, water will be more valuable than gasoline. We can live without gasoline but we can't survive without safe water to drink. People cannot survive long without food and water and what makes our food grow? Water.

We can build cars that will run without gasoline and oil, but we can't survive without water. Around the world, thousands of people die daily from contaminated water and the lack of safe water.

Israel's Ministry of Agriculture has said that relinquishing control of the West Bank would have "an immediate and significantly detrimental effect on the Israeli water supply."

About 85 percent of the water in the large aquifer below the West Bank currently is used by Israeli settlers or pumped into Israel, while Palestinian water consumption in the occupied territories has been sharply curtailed, and we wonder why those same people are at war.

Today, in the United States alone, we are seeing a scarcity of water due to the lack of seasonal snows, rains and overpopulation. There are people in the United States who are living where they can only pump 100 or fewer gallons per day from their wells. Many people are forced to deepen their existing wells or to drill new wells. Sometimes they drill several dry holes on their property before giving up and having to have water hauled to storage tanks.

The average person in this country today uses 75 gallons to 150 gallons per person per day for all uses, not including gardens, flowers, shrubs and washing their cars and trucks.

In the near future, I predict that we will be recycling our gray water (water from our sinks, bathtubs, washing machines and dishwashers). We will have separate holding tanks to contain this gray water to use on our gardens, shrubs, flowers and possibly even washing our cars.

I further predict that, in the near future, our sewage (from our toilets) will continue to be dumped into septic tanks or returned to the local sewage plants for treatment and then returned to us (in separate lines) to use again in our toilets.

As well drilling contractors, it is our responsibility to get involved and inform the public. We are the true water experts.