FAIRHOPE, Ala. — When the newest water well in Fairhope receives its state public water supply permit, it will start pumping up to 1.4 million gallons a day, said Dan O’Donnell of O’Donnell and Associates Inc.

“The water in this area is generally very good,” said O’Donnell, a private geologist on contract with Fairhope, who has sited four public water supply wells for the city since 1999.

“The Fairhope Middle Aquifer is a local name I gave to the aquifer supplying the new well. It is a water-bearing sand of the regionally designated Pliocene-Miocene Aquifer.”

The new well located several miles east of Greeno Road is the 10th well that supplies water to the city, said Dan McCrory, the director of the city’s water and sewer department.

“We’re experiencing tremendous growth and are preparing for the future,” he said. “We bought the property four years ago.”

McCrory said that he could not release the depth of the well because of Homeland Security rules, but that the No. 10 well will pump water and transport it several hundred yards to an existing faciility where it will be treated and then stored in the adjacent water tower.

A staff person for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management visited the site of the new well on Jan. 8, McCrory said.

“I’m hoping we’ll get the permit within the next few weeks,” he said.

Fairhope has been proactive in both water-supply planning and in protecting its sources of supply, O’Donnell said.

“It’s just real good quality water at that depth,” he said. “And there’s plenty of it.”

An ADEM employee said that federal law requires Information about the new water well to be available for public review at the city’s water and sewer department.