A few days ago my wife, Shirley, and I attended the 2016 Michigan Ground Water Association Convention in Battle Creek, Mich. This was the 64th convention of this association that I have attended and the 59th consecutive. I managed to miss the 1957 event. The 2016 convention was very much like the most recent ones, with rather low attendance, a modest number of display booths open for viewing for only four hours, and poorly attended seminars. It seems to me that many of the younger members of our industry are not very interested in learning new things or any updates to what they do know. Young drillers could do well to support events like this.
Among the exhibits, which included two drill rigs, I did see several new and innovative products. One was a heating system to prevent pipes from freezing that is inside the pipe — a unique approach to an old problem. Another was a combination of visual and audio alarms telling the owner that his water softener brine tank needed salt added with either a beeper or a red signal light, or both — another unique idea. One manufacturer had a combination pressure switch and control box that they said would eliminate a separate control box for three-wire submersible pumps. All the installer has to do with this device is bring in the power and connect the feed wires to the pump — again a unique idea.