Ongoing drought conditions throughout the region are causing some people who rely on wells for their water to worry about whether they'll dry out.

The town of Almonte, Ont., depends on five wells for its water.

Two of them on the east side of the town are fed by the Nepean aquifer, said Troy Dunlop, the town's director of public works. It's deep and stable, and has so far not posed any problems.

But the other three rely on a more shallow aquifer.

Outdoor watering ban imposed last week

Dunlop said that on July 11, two of them began to take more time than usual to recover from daily use.

"What we had noticed was that two of our aquifers were not recovering to the limit that they had in the previous days," Dunlop said.

That's when the town decided more proactive steps needed to be taken to conserve water. On July 12 the town imposed an outdoor watering ban, which has so far been successful.

"Over the course of the four days following we saw an overall reduction in our water production to the tune of about 18 per cent, so frankly we're quite surprised that we've had this reduction in production this quickly."

Older, shallow wells potentially vulnerable

But as the drought drags on, some private well owners are getting nervous.

Troy Saunders, owner of a well-drilling company in Carp, Ont., said he's been getting more calls from distressed residents.

"Daily I'm getting calls from people to try to counsel them as to how much water to use safely," he said.

Saunders said wells drilled in Ontario after 2003 are required to undergo a recorded pump test that provides their owners with information about water draw down and recovery levels, which can be helpful in dry conditions.

But he said shallower wells can be more vulnerable.