Macon County Public Health
Environmental Health Services

Private Drinking Water Wells

The following documents and schedules are pertinent to Well construction, maintenance and repair in Macon County. They are all available for download and printout via the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have Acrobat Reader click here to download.

• Well Program Procedures
• Well Application
• Water Sampling Requirements
• Permitting and Inspection of Private Drinking Water Wells
• Private Drinking Water Well Sampling - Definitions
• Well Construction Standards
• Water Well Disinfection
• Well Drilling Contractors List

Well Head Inspection

The Certified Well Contractor, Pump Installer, or Property Owner shall notify the Health Department when the well head installation is complete (pump installed, vent, hose bib, seal, well identification tag, and pump indentification tag). An Environmental Health Specialist will then inspect the well head, issue the Certificate of Completion and collect a clearance water quality sample .

Water Quality Sampling

The local Health Department will collect a water quality sample from the well head no less than 24 hours after the disinfecting agent has been purged from the well and within 30 days of the successful well head completion inspection.

Water Sample Procedure:

Upon completion of construction or repair, a private drinking water well shall have the water tested within 30 days of issue of the Certificate of Completion by the Health Department. The Certified Well Contractor or property owner shall assure that the well has been disinfected and that the disinfecting agent has been subsequently purged from the well. The Health Department will then be notified the well is ready for water quality sampling. An authorized agent from the Health Department will check the well water for residual disinfecting agent using an approved test kit. As soon as it has been documented that the well water is clear of disinfecting agent, the Health Department will collect a water sample.

It is the responsibility of the property owner to provide a source of power for the purpose of collecting a water sample. Water samples will not be collected if there is no power source or if any residual disinfecting agent is detected in the well. The well head shall be made easily accessible for the purpose of collecting a water sample.

A $125.00 return visit fee will be assessed the property owner or well drilling contractor when Health Department staff are unable to collect a water sample due to the presence of residual disinfecting agent, inability to access the well head, or if a power source is not available.

Water samples can be collected from Monday thru Thursday, excluding Holidays. (Laboratory protocols and analytical holding times limit the days on which a water quality sample may be collected.)

The Health Department will provide a copy of the water quality test results to the owner of the newly constructed or repaired drinking water well. Water quality test results will be kept as a permanent part of the public records of the Health Department.

Analyses:

Water samples will be tested for the presence of Total and Fecal Coliform. Water samples will also be analyzed for Arsenic, Barium, Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Fluoride, Lead, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Mercury, Nitrate, Nitrite, Selenium, Silver, Sodium, Zinc and pH.

Abandoning Wells

The owner of a well must abandon a well within 30 days of a Notice to Abandon issued by the local Health Department. Within 30 days of commencement of construction, the owner or Certified Well Drilling Contractor must abandon a well that will not be placed into service. Abandoning of a well must be documented on North Carolina State Form GW-30, Well Abandonment Form. The local Health Department must be given a minimum of 24 hours notice of all well abandonment activities.

Records

A signed Well Construction Report or Well Abandonment Form shall be submitted to the Health Department and the State by the Certified Well Contractor completing the construction, repair or abandonment of a private drinking water well. The well construction report must be received by the Health Department within thirty (30) working days after completion of the well. The North Carolina State Form GW-1a is acceptable and recommended as the Well Construction Report and Form GW-30 is acceptable and recommended as the Well Abandonment Report.