Section 812.22. Finishing operations.

 

(1)   Development. All wells shall be developed until the water is practicably clear and free of sand by one of, or a combination or modification of, the following methods:

(a) Mechanical surging. A valved or solid plunger surge block may be used to create a surging action in the well. Accumulated material shall be removed periodically. A bailer may be used as the surge block but is usually not as effective.

(b) Air surging. An air compressor and piping may be used to create the surging and jetting action in the well. Water in the well shall be alternately brought to the surface by air lift pumping and allowed to drop back down the well to static condition by shutting the air off. This may be performed with an air-rotary drilling rig and drill stem.

(c) Overpumping. Continuous overpumping at a rate of at least 1 and 1/2 times the design capacity of the well or interrupted overpumping in conjunction with water line drainback to the well in 5-minute cycles may be used. Overpumping alone without a drainback provision or other surging method may not be used to develop screened wells.

(d) Hydraulic jetting. A nozzled jetting tool may be used to deliver water at high pressure and velocity to the zone being developed in conjunction with pumping the well.

(e) Air-jetting. Use the same technique as hydraulic jetting described in par. (d) except with the use of air rather than water.

(2)   Reconditioning.

(a) Redevelopment. The methods described for development in sub. (1) may be used to redevelop a well.

(b) Chemical conditioning.

1. Noncontinuous chemical treatment of a well, except for batch chlorination, shall be conducted under the supervision of a licensed well driller or a Wisconsin registered professional engineer. Acidation of a well shall be done with approved materials and in a manner to prevent damage to the well or pump and to prevent any hazard to humans or property. The acid shall be inhibited and shall be neutralized upon removal from the well.

2. Noncontinuous chemical treatment of pumps or pump intake screens shall be conducted under the supervision of a licensed pump installer or a Wisconsin registered professional engineer. Acidation of a pump or pump intake screen shall be done in a manner described in subd. 1.

(c) Physical conditioning. Wells may be physically conditioned by:

1. Blasting. When using explosives to increase or recover the yield of a well, the explosive charge shall be set at least 10 feet below the bottom of the well casing pipe which shall be filled with water or sand. The work shall be performed under the supervision of a well driller by a blaster certified by department of safety and professional services according to the requirements of ch. SPS 307 . The well driller shall submit a report of results of the blasting within 30 days following blasting on a well construction report form.

2. Hydrofracturing. Hydraulic fracturing or hydrofracturing of an aquifer by injecting potable chlorinated water into a crystalline bedrock formation well under high pressures great enough to separate the aquifer along bedding planes, joints and fractures is allowed. Clean washed inert, nontoxic material such as sand may be added to the water for the purpose of holding the joints and fractures open after the pressure is reduced. Hydrofracturing may only be performed under the supervision of a well driller. The upper packer may not extend up into the bottom of the well casing pipe nor higher than 40-feet below the ground surface. Hydrofracturing in limestone or dolomite formations may be undertaken only with prior department notification. The well driller shall submit a report on a well construction report form to the department of the results of the hydrofracturing within 30 days following completion.

(3)   Well pump test. The well driller or well constructor shall conduct a pump test using the well driller's, the well constructor's or the well owner's pump for each new or reconstructed well to determine the stable yield in gallons per minute, and the water level drawdown. A pump test may be conducted using air-rotary equipment. For flowing wells, the flow rate may be measured using an orifice plate with manometer or equivalent. The static water level and drawdown shall be measured in a stilling pipe when the flow is not adequate for user needs.

(4)   Well disinfection and batch chlorination. Wells shall be thoroughly disinfected following completion of construction or reconstruction using a chlorine solution such as a sodium or calcium hypochlorite solution. Chlorine compounds having special additives shall not be used.

(a) The disinfectant shall be dispersed throughout the entire water column in the well. The disinfectant shall also be brought into contact with the inside of the well casing pipe above the static water level.

(b) The disinfectant shall remain in the well for at least 2 hours except for emergency situations, when water is needed without delay. A contact time of at least 30 minutes shall be provided for emergency situations.

(c) A chlorine solution with a minimum of 100 mg/l of chlorine shall be used to disinfect wells and well drilling equipment.

(d) The disinfectant shall be prepared according to the following table: - See PDF for table

(e) For batch chlorination, the entire water system shall be thoroughly disinfected with a chlorine solution having a concentration of at least 500 mg/1 prepared according to Table B. The volume of chlorine solution shall be equal to or greater than the volume of water standing in the well. The chlorine solution shall be brought into contact with the entire inside of the well casing pipe by continuous circulation from the water system. A contact time of at least 12 hours shall be provided for the disinfectant.

(5)   Flushing. Wells shall be thoroughly flushed after disinfection. Flushing and disinfection procedures may be performed simultaneously except for batch chlorination procedures when they shall be done separately.

(6)   Bacteriological, nitrate, and special well casing depth area water samples.

(a) The water well driller or his or her agent or the well constructor of any potable well, including driven point wells, shall collect water samples to be analyzed for coliform bacteria and nitrate, using the well driller's, well constructor's or well owner's pump, air-lift equipment or with a bailer, from any new or newly reconstructed, rehabilitated, redeveloped, or reconditioned potable well. Thereafter water samples for coliform bacteria and nitrate shall also be collected after the well is entered for the purpose of measuring or diagnosing any feature or problem with the well or for the purpose of installing, replacing or repairing any equipment located within the well or when the casing height is raised. The water samples shall be collected and submitted for analysis no later than 30 days following completion of the well or following completion of any work described above. The well is completed when all operations that require the use of drilling, driving or annular space sealing equipment have been completed. If the water well driller uses the well owner as an agent to collect the water samples, the well driller shall provide the owner with a laboratory designated sample bottle and department specified form. The information submitted on the form shall be complete, true and accurate. If the water well driller uses the pump installer as an agent to collect the water samples, and the pump installer engages in the business of pump installing separately from the water well driller's business, the water samples from each business shall be in separate bottles and each must be submitted to the laboratory with their own department specified forms. Regardless of whether the water well driller delegates the collection and submission of the samples for analysis, the ultimate responsibility to ensure that these tasks are completed belongs to the water well driller. If the water well driller or well constructor is also the pump installer for that well, one set of water samples may be collected following the completion, disinfection and flushing after the pump installation. A water well driller or well constructor is not required to be licensed as a pump installer to install a test pump for well development and water sampling.

(b) The water sample shall be analyzed for coliform bacteria by a laboratory certified by DATCP under ch. ATCP 77 to perform coliform bacteriological analysis of drinking water and having an agreement with the department for electronic submission of laboratory test reports to the department no later than 30 days after completion of the analysis, or be analyzed by the Wisconsin state laboratory of hygiene. The water sample shall also be analyzed for nitrate by a laboratory certified by the department for nitrate analysis of drinking water and having an agreement with the department for electronic submission of laboratory test reports to the department no later than 30 days after completion of the analysis or be analyzed by the Wisconsin state laboratory of hygiene. The certified laboratory and water well driller or well constructor or their agent shall use forms specified by the department.

(c) For any water sample required in a Special Well Casing Depth Area, the analysis shall be performed by a laboratory certified by the department for that analysis and having an agreement with the department for electronic submission of laboratory test reports to the department no later than 30 days after completion of the analysis, or be analyzed by the Wisconsin state laboratory if hygiene. The certified laboratory and water well driller or well constructor or their agent shall use forms specified by the department.

(d) If the laboratory test report indicates that any test result is invalid for any reason, including improper sample bottle, improper collection technique or longer than 48 hours between sample collection and arrival at the laboratory, the water well driller is required to collect replacement samples no later than 30 days after receiving the invalid test report.

(e) The water well driller, well constructor or pump installer shall provide the well owner or the owner's agent with a copy of each laboratory test report no later than 10 days after the well driller's, well constructor's, or pump installer's receipt of the laboratory test reports.

(7)   Well and drillhole construction reports.

(a) The water well or heat exchange driller who contracted to construct the water well or heat exchange drillhole, the water well or heat exchange driller who actually constructed the water well or heat exchange drillhole, or the water well or heat exchange drillhole constructor shall submit an original well construction report to the department and to the owner within 30 days following the day the water well or heat exchange drillhole was completed or reconstructed. Heat exchange drillholes require one well construction report for every 20 drillholes drilled, and the well construction report shall include the latitude and longitude of the corresponding drillhole location. Latitude and longitude for each drillhole at a project site shall be reported for heat exchange projects requiring approval under s. NR 812.09 (4) . Heat exchange drillhole construction reports shall be spaced across the project site as practicable as possible, or should be reflective of geologic variation that may occur across the site. A well construction report shall be submitted for any well deepening. A water well or heat exchange drillhole is completed when all operations that require the use of drilling, driving or annular space sealing equipment have been completed. A well construction report is not required for well screen replacement if the screen is set to a depth not exceeding 5 feet above or below the original screen depth setting. A well construction report is also not required for blasting or hydrofracturing when done within 30 days after original completion of the well construction. Such work shall be reported on the original well construction report or on a copy of the original report. An accurate and complete well construction report shall be submitted on a form prescribed by the department to:

1. Department of natural resources; and

2. The well owner

(b) Well or heat exchange drillhole construction reports returned to the water well driller, heat exchange driller or well constructor for completion or when compliance with the construction requirements of this chapter is questionable shall be resubmitted to the department no later than 15 days after receipt of the returned report. The original well or heat exchange drillhole construction report shall be resubmitted. Dry drillholes or unsuccessful wells drilled in conjunction with well construction and not immediately filled and sealed shall be reported on a well construction report. The water well driller, heat exchange driller, or well constructor shall ensure proper filling and sealing methods and materials are used, according to s. NR 812.26 , for any drillhole constructed by the water well driller or well constructor that is not intended to provide water.

(8)   Well conditioning reports. The well driller, well constructor or project supervisor shall, within 30 days following any well blasting, hydrofracturing or chemical treatment operation conducted under an approval, submit a report to the department detailing the methods used and results achieved.

(8m)   Heat exchange fluids. Only department approved heat exchange fluids may be used in the piping placed in heat exchange drillholes.

(9)   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.

(10)   Well casing pipe depth verification. When required to measure well casing pipe depth, due to lack of a confirmable well construction report, the well driller shall enter the well details, including location, well casing pipe depth, total well depth, distances to possible contaminant sources and well owner information on a form specified by the department and shall submit the report to the department no later than 30 days after performing the verification. A copy of the report shall also be provided to the well owner no later than 30 days after performing the verification.

History: Cr. Register, January, 1991, No. 421 , eff. 2-1-91; am. (2) (b) 1., (4) (a) and (b), (5), (6) (a) and (7) (a) (intro.), cr. (4) (e), Register, September, 1994, No. 465 , eff. 10-1-94; correction in (2) (c) 1. made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 7., Stats., Register, September, 1996, No. 489 ; correction in (2) (c) 1. made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 7., Stats., Register, May, 2000, No. 533 ; correction in (6) (b) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 7., Stats., Register July 2010 No. 655 ; correction in (2) (c) 1., (6) (b) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 6., 7., Stats., Register December 2011 No. 672 ; CR 13-096 : am. (7) (title), (a) (intro.), (b), cr. (8m), CR 13-099 : r. and recr. (6), am. (7) (b), cr. (9), (10) Register September 2014 No. 705 , eff. 10-1-14; correction in numbering in (8m) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 1., Stats., Register September 2014 No. 705 ; 2015 Wis. Act 197 s. 46 Register April 2016 No. 724 .

Note

A stable pumping water level may not be possible in wells completed in crystalline bedrock. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 The department's address is P.O. Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1