PDF《Maintaining your》

When your well system is suitably located, properly constructed and installed, correctly maintained and regularly tested, you should have few problems with water quantity and quality.

Construction, maintenance and protection of home wells are the keys to safe water. This file folder provides a place for you to record and save vital information about your well water. This information will be valuable to any professional advising you about your water system. It should be filed with other documents about your home and property, and passed on to future owners. Since 1936, well construction reports have been required for all wells installed by licensed well drillers. State law requires the driller to provide one copy to the homeowner and another to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. If you did not receive a report, ask your well driller, or request one (for a fee) from the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey in Madison (see back page for address). The well construction report provides much of the basic information you need to record. If a report cannot be located, it is doubly important to record information about the well as opportunities arise. For example, if a pump must be replaced, the pump installer may be able to measure the depth of the well and depth to water at that time. The hydrologic cycle― your water source When rain or snow fall to the earth'

s surface, some water runs off into lakes or streams. Much of the rest soaks into the soil (see figure 1). Plants use some of it. Some evaporates. Some trickles slowly downward through the soil until it reaches the saturated zone, where all the spaces between rock and soil particles are filled with water. The top of this zone is called the water table. Water below the water table is groundwater. Wells extend below the water table to collect groundwater for your use. Groundwater flows slowly underground from high to low areas. The slope of the water table often parallels the slope of the land surface. Groundwater becomes surface water again when it discharges into lakes, streams and springs. Surface water may then evaporate to form clouds and begin the cycle again. So groundwater, far from being new water from within the earth, is water that has been recycled many times since the earth was young. Protect your water supply Proper well siting and construction are a landowner'

s first defenses against unsafe water. The Wisconsin DNR administers a well code, which provides minimum standards for well depth, construction materials, and distance from potential pollution sources. In addition to meeting separation distances, it'

s important to locate your well upgradient (usually uphill) from potential pollution sources. Contact the regional DNR office for advice on well construction or replacement. If a groundwater supply is initially adequate and safe, homeowners must protect it by installing a proper withdrawal and distribution system. You can also protect your water supply with the following measures. Grade your lot so surface water runs away from the well. Check to make certain that the well cap or seal is in place and tightly secured. Ensure that insects and other vermin cannot enter. A vermin-proof well cap is one solution. Avoid using gasoline and lawn, household or agricultural chemicals near the well. G3399 Maintaining your home well water system Christine Mechenich, George Gibson, Jim Peterson, Byron Shaw and Gary Jackson Figure 1. In the hydrologic cycle, water moves through the air, over land and through the ground. Protect basement wells from flooding and sewers which may back up. In most cases, basement wells are now prohibited. Protect wells in pits from surface water flooding. Pits subject to flooding should be abandoned. Contact the DNR for assistance. Properly abandon unused wells by filling them from bottom to top with grouting clay or cement. Call a pump installer or well driller for advice or assistance. Avoid improper plumbing connections that could allow contaminants to back-siphon down your well. Plan ahead to replace your well should it become necessary. Continued protection of groundwater depends on proper land-use activities. Most residential wells draw water that entered the ground within a few miles of the well. How you and your neighbors use the land can be an important factor in the quality and quantity of your water supply. Possible sources of well contamination are animal waste, fertilizers, pesticides, septic tank systems, landfills and dumps, and commercial or industrial spills or discharges, including leaking underground fuel tanks. Detecting contaminated groundwater requires regular testing. Homeowners should test their water supply each year. Consider seasonal tests if one sample shows elevated levels of contaminants. Always test water if unusual odors, colors or turbidity develop, or if you note an interrupted supply (for example, if the well pumps air or sediment). Well drillers and pump installers are required to disinfect and test the well any time they service the well, pump, or plumbing system. (Follow the same procedure if you do the work yourself.) Homeowners should receive a copy of the test results. Your well site In the grid in the next column, sketch the location of your home and other structures on your lot in relation to your well. Include distances to your own or your neighbor'