HELPING TO PROTECT OUR GROUNDWATER RESOURCES
Assessment
You may need a well assessment if you don’t know the status of your well. We can determine quickly if your well is protected or substandard.
SERVICE: The Well Busters team provides comprehensive assessment of water wells. As specialists, we have solutions to remedy almost any situation. Our goal is to help protect and preserve the high quality of our precious drinking water resources. Well Busters can visit you and your well and thoroughly assess your needs. Upon visiting, we can examine well construction, well location and pumping system issues and suggest solutions for a reasonable cost.
DESCRIPTION: Well owners are legally responsible for the maintenance of their well and must abandon old or unused wells.
Most well owners have spent little time with their water wells. In our opinion, we think well owners ought to look at their wells more often and consider investing in their wells to protect long-term water quality. When you consider home owners on municipal water pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year for water, investing in your well and maintaining a low-cost water supply is a good alternative.
The contractors and technicians employed by Well Busters have extensive knowledge of proper well construction practices. Well Busters can assess your well, determine if your well is at risk of contamination, and make recommendations for upgrading or improving your well, testing of water quantity or water quality and estimate costs.
Why worry about my well?
A poorly maintained or inadequately constructed well can result in the bacterial and/or chemical contamination of your drinking water. The effects of poor well construction have been most recently demonstrated in Walkerton, Ontario. Seven people died and 2,300 became ill after Walkerton’s water supply became contaminated with deadly bacteria. The source of the contamination was manure spread on a farm field near a town well. The Walkerton tragedy has made all Canadians more aware of the safety of their drinking water and the importance of proper well construction and well maintenance.
When was the last time your well was maintained?
Our experience has shown that many well owners have not been giving their wells the attention they deserve. Groundwater and water wells can provide low cost and high quality drinking water supplies if constructed and maintained properly. Even if you have no problem with water quantity or water quality you should still inspect your well head and water supply system annually. It is important for your family’s health and your own piece of mind that you care for your drinking water supply.
Is my well constructed properly?
If you’re not sure, you can start by reviewing some of the well construction information below or have a licensed well technician from Well Busters assess your well. Your well should be repaired or improved to protect against the entry of surface water and foreign materials.
Current regulations provide much different standards for well construction than in previous times. These regulations cover all aspects of well construction, pump installation and well testing.
Until recently, construction methods permitted subsurface well pits, well seals and air vents which collectively can result in entry of surface water and contamination of wells with bacteria and other foreign materials.
If your well is in a pit, you should immediately consider upgrading your well — pits are well known to be a major culprit of well contamination.
Current regulations prohibit well pits, provide improved protection, and significantly reduce potential for contamination. These regulations also make well owners liable for maintaining their well. Well construction (including upgrades) and maintenance of wells should be performed by licensed well technicians.
The professional technicians at Well Busters know where to look for problems and will suggest reasonable alternatives to protect your well and reduce risk of contamination.
What is Professional Well Assessment?
TYPICAL WELL ASSESSMENT INCLUDES:
Interview with well owner
Investigation of well always includes evaluation of:
Location of well
External construction of well/well pits, etc.
Internal construction of well/well pits, etc.
Report including digital images of relevant well features/problems
Estimate of cost for repairs/improvements/upgrades to protect your well and
meet current well construction codes
Investigation of well may also include optional:
Search for Ministry of the Environment (MOE) well report (if available)
Potability water quality test (coliform)
General water quality analysis (metals, ions, nutrients)
Complete water quality analysis (metals, ions, nutrients, organics and pesticides)
Well flow test (standard 2 hour MOE test)
Down-hole well video analysis (optional)
Water system assessment
Custom investigation
Custom water quality testing
Understanding well types?
Two types of wells are generally found in Canada. These are drilled wells and dug wells. Drilled wells typically range in diameters from 6 to 20 cm (2 inches to 8 inches), are cased with steel or plastic and generally penetrate deeper into the earth, often reaching into underlying bedrock ‘formations’. Because the wells are deeper and water is essentially purified by percolating through the earth, water quality tends to be better and risk of contamination (with a properly constructed well) should be reduced in drilled wells. Dug or bored wells, are normally larger in diameter (12 inches to 36 inches) to increase storage and are much more shallow (less than 10 m). Dug wells are completed in overburden formations (the sands and gravels deposited by glacial activity i.e., ice, water and wind) found overlying the bedrock. Because dug or bored wells are shallower and completed in much more porous material, they are at greater risk of being contaminated from foreign materials (e.g., manure, fuels, pesticides, etc.) applied to the surface.
Learn more about wells from the
What well construction factors should be considered?
Proper well construction is relatively simple. In general consider the following:
No well pits: If you own a well which is located in a pit, below the ground surface, you should have your well upgraded. Wells in pits are vulnerable to a suite of biological and chemical contaminants that find there way into your well through the surface water which collects in your pit and seeps through poorly sealed well heads, air vents and gaps in the spaces around your well casing.
Vermin Proof Well Cap: Your well must be sealed from surface water and unwanted vermin. Generally, a commercial well cap should be on all drilled wells and cement well covers should be on dug or drilled wells. The well cap and seal should be securely in place and watertight. If well caps or seals are absent, replace immediately.
Height of Well: Inspect the well to see if the top is about 0.4 m (16 inches) above the ground surface. This is your best defence against surface water.
Well Casing: There should be no visible cracks or settling around well casing in dug or drilled wells.
Drainage: The ground around a well should slope away from the casing. Surface water should drain away from the well and water should not be allowed to collect around the well casing.
Protected Areas: The area around a well should be protected. It is a good practice to keep a permanent grass buffer of a minimum 4 m (12 ft.) width should be maintained around the well head. Fertilizers and pesticides should not be applied to the grass buffer. Family pets (and their droppings) should be kept away from the protected area as much as possible.
Well Pumps and Water Systems: The well pump and water distribution system should be in good condition. It is important that wells and distribution systems (i.e., plumbing) be adequately designed to meet the needs for a given household.
Abandoned Wells: All old, unused or abandoned wells on a property must be decommissioned (plugged) by a licensed well contractor.
You can generally assess your well by comparing your well to the main features within the diagrams below. If your not sure about the state of your well —
Drilled Well
Well Water Pit