Wisconsin Administrative Code
Department of Natural Resources
NR 800 - Environmental Protection - Water Supply
Chapter NR 812 - Well Construction And Pump Installation
Subchapter II - New Water Well and Heat Exchange Drillhole Construction and Reconstruction and Filling and Sealing of Wells and Drillholes
Section NR 812.10 - Well driller and well constructor requirements

Universal Citation: WI Admin Code § NR 812.10

Current through August 26, 2024

A well driller or well constructor is responsible for constructing a well according to all of the following requirements:

(1) LICENSE REQUIREMENT. An individual who constructs a well shall be a licensed water well driller except that a license is not required for any of the following individuals provided all other requirements of this subchapter are met:

(a) An individual performing well drilling on real estate owned or leased by that individual.

(b) An individual employed by a licensed water well driller or a person registered as a business to perform well drilling.

(d) An individual constructing a nonpotable water supply well.

(2) WELL OR DRILLHOLE LOCATION. A well driller or well constructor shall be responsible for properly locating a well. Wells shall be located to meet the minimum requirements specified in s. NR 812.08.

(3) EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS. A well driller or well constructor shall use the proper equipment and materials to enable compliance with the requirements of this subchapter.

(4) CONSTRUCTION METHODS. A well driller or well constructor shall comply with this chapter for the construction and reconstruction of all wells. A well driller or well constructor shall provide adequate protection for the top of the drillhole and the top of the well casing pipe to prevent surface contamination from entering the well during the drilling operation and when the driller is not at the drilling site.

(5) APPROVALS. A well driller or well constructor shall either obtain, or verify that the well owner has obtained, a department issued approval before the well construction operation is started on any well that requires an approval under s. NR 812.09 (4). A well driller or well constructor shall comply with any requirements of an approval issued by the department under s. NR 812.09 (4).

(6) CONSULTATION WITH THE DEPARTMENT PRIOR TO DRILLING. A well driller or well constructor shall consult with the department prior to drilling in areas where the driller has been notified or determines that there are contaminated formations or groundwater contamination levels in excess of the standards specified in s. NR 812.06, or prior to drilling a well on a property identified by the department as having residual contamination and continuing obligations requiring listing on the department's database under s. 292.12(3), Stats.

Note: Properties that are identified by the department as having residual contamination and continuing obligations can be found by searching the Wisconsin Remediation and Redevelopment Database which is available on the department's website at dnr.wi.gov, search "WRRD."

(7) NONCOMPLYING WELLS. When a well driller or well constructor has constructed a water well not initially located or constructed in compliance with this chapter, the well driller or well constructor shall pay all costs for bringing the well into compliance with this chapter. These costs include the cost of filling and sealing the noncomplying well, if necessary, but do not include the costs that would have been charged for an initial complying well construction.

(8) WELL NOTIFICATION REPORT VERIFICATION. A well driller or well constructor shall either obtain a well notification or verify that the well owner has obtained a department well notification including the notification number, by obtaining a copy of the notification report, before the well construction operation is started.

(9) PERMIT VERIFICATION. A well driller, well constructor, or drilling contractor shall obtain required permits from counties authorized to administer this chapter under ch. NR 845. If the property is located within the area served by a municipally owned water system, the well driller or well constructor shall verify that the well owner has obtained a well operational permit from the municipality in accordance with the municipality's private well ordinance.

(10) WATER SAMPLE COLLECTION, ANALYSIS AND REPORTING. The well driller or the well constructor shall collect water samples, submit them to a certified laboratory for analysis, and provide the test results in compliance with s. NR 812.46.

(11) WELL CONSTRUCTION REPORT.

(a) The well driller or well constructor shall submit a well construction report, on a form prescribed by the department, within 30 days following the date of completion of any of the following activities:

1. Well construction.

2. Well reconstruction.

3. The construction of a dry drillhole or unsuccessful well that is not immediately filled and sealed.

4. Driving or replacing a driven well point.

5. Well screen replacement if the screen is set more than 5 feet above or below the original screen depth setting.

(b) The well driller or well constructor shall submit a complete and accurate well construction report to the department and to the well owner. The well driller or well constructor shall submit the well construction report to the department electronically beginning on January 1, 2023.

(c) When constructing a replacement well, a well driller or well constructor shall report any well he or she removes from service on the property.

(d) If the department returns a well construction report to the well driller or well constructor because the well construction report is not complete or because compliance with the construction requirements of this chapter is not clear, the well driller or well constructor shall resubmit the original well construction report to the department with corrections and completion no later than 15 days after receipt of the returned report.

(12) BACTERIA POSITIVE WELLS. A well driller or well constructor shall return to the well site to diagnose and attempt to correct a problem when an initial sample from a potable well is positive for total coliform bacteria. Corrective action shall begin no later than 10 days after a well driller or well constructor is informed of a total coliform bacteria-positive result or prior to the well being placed into service, whichever is later. After corrective action, the well shall be disinfected and flushed in accordance with s. NR 812.12 (17) and sampled in accordance with s. NR 812.46 (1).

(13) PROBLEM WELLS.

(a) A well driller or well constructor shall return to the well site to attempt to diagnose and correct problems if a problem is reported to them, no later than 90 days after a well is completed or no later than 30 days after the well is placed in service, whichever is later. The well driller or well constructor shall return to the well site to attempt to diagnose and correct problems when any of the following occurs:

1. The well produces sandy or turbid water.

2. The well fails due to a caving or sloughing formation.

3. Water starts flowing up the outside of the casing of a flowing well.

(b) If a well driller or well constructor installs a liner to correct problems identified under this subsection, the liner shall meet the requirements specified in s. NR 812.21.

(c) A well driller or well constructor may seal a drillhole with neat cement, sand cement grout, or concrete grout and subsequently drill through the hardened grout to reconstruct a well for non-health-related water quality problems or for turbidity problems. A well driller or well constructor shall report any well reconstructed in this manner in accordance with the requirements specified in sub. (15).

(d) When a problem well has been identified by the department, the department may test or contract to test the well for damage or leaks by pressure testing or by a comparable testing procedure. If pressure tested, the well shall be proven watertight under a pressure of not less than 14 psi, and the pressure shall be maintained for at least 30 minutes.

(14) NOTIFICATION OF THE NEED TO FILL AND SEAL A WELL. A well driller or well constructor who removes a well from service or constructs a replacement well on a property shall inform the property owner that the department requires that any well replaced or removed from service shall be filled and sealed according to the requirements of this section no later than 90 days after the well was removed from service or 90 days after the completion of the replacement well, whichever is later.

(15) WELL CASING PIPE DEPTH VERIFICATION REPORT.

(a) When required to measure well casing pipe depth by this chapter or at the request of the department, the well driller or well constructor shall enter the well details on a form specified by the department and submit the form to the well owner and the department no later than 30 days after performing the verification.

(b) All of the following information shall be included on the form:

1. The well location.

2. The well owner information.

3. The casing material.

4. The casing diameter.

5. The well casing pipe depth.

6. The total well depth.

7. The depth to water.

8. The distances to possible contaminant sources.

(16) DISINFECTION OF EQUIPMENT. A well driller or well constructor shall disinfect any equipment used to measure or diagnose a problem in a well prior to placing the equipment in a well.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Wisconsin may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.

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