The Water Supply Wells
Program is responsible for overseeing the placement, construction,
abandonment and sampling of water supply wells in the county. We work
with homeowners and local well and plumbing contractors to ensure the
protection of our drinking water supplies.
Water Supply Wells
As of 2007, Local Health
Departments are required to have programs overseeing the construction,
inspection and sampling of new water supply wells. These types of wells
include:
- Private wells that serve a single residence
- Transient non-community water supply wells that do not meet the
definition of "public water supply" in 15A NCAC 18C (i.e. restaurants,
churches, schools, child care facilities, and medical facilities).
Before constructing a
new water supply well, an application needs to be made to the health
department. This requires a completed application and a detailed site
plan showing property boundaries, structures, and the location of nearby
septic systems.
A specialist will come
out to your property to site the proposed well to make sure it meets all
the requirements of the State's Well Rules. Once the well is properly
sited, a permit will be issued to the applicant. The Well Construction
Permit is valid for 5 years. The permit will include a diagram showing
the location where the well is to be drilled.
The applicant must give
their driller a copy of the permit before the well can be drilled. The
driller must keep a copy of the permit with them during the drilling.
The health department is responsible for inspecting the well grout. The
driller is responsible for the scheduling the date and time of the
grout inspection.
Once the well is
completed, the driller is responsible for sending their Record of
Completion to the health department. Once we have the Record of
Completion, we can do the final inspection on the well and power can be
turned on to the pump.
Fees are charged for new well construction permits and water sampling.
Water Samples
The State's Well Rules
require that all newly constructed water supply wells be sampled for
water quality once power is supplied to the pump. Once power is turned
on to your pump, please contact our office to let us know so that we may
come out and sample your well.
Parameters samples include:
- Bacteria
- Nitrate/Nitrite
- Inorganic Contaminates such as heavy metals
Water sample results
generally take 1-3 weeks. Fees are charged for water samples. Once we
have received the results of your sample, we will call you with the
results as well as mail a copy and explain the results to you.
Well Abandonment
Wells on your property
that are not currently being used or have gone dry should be properly
abandoned according to the State's Well Rules. They can be temporarily
abandoned by having a locking cap installed, or permanently abandoned by
being filled in according with the well rules.
Permanent abandonment of
a well requires a permit from the health department. An application
needs to be completed and submitted along with a detailed site plan. A
specialist will investigate the well and write a permit for
abandonment. Our office is responsible for overseeing the abandonment,
which must be performed by a certified well contractor. The contractor
is responsible for scheduling the abandonment with our office.