Section 812.11. Well and heat exchange drillhole construction equipment & materials.

 

(1)   Adequacy of equipment. Water well and heat exchange drillers, water well and heat exchange drilling businesses and well constructors shall be adequately equipped to enable the individual, business and those who are supervised to fully comply with all legal requirements applicable to any well or drillhole construction, reconstruction or well or drillhole filling and sealing which is undertaken by the licensee or registrant and [or] any employees .

(a) Drill bits. The diameter of drill bits shall be within 1/4 , of the diameter of any drillhole to be constructed. A drill bit more than 1/4 , smaller in diameter than the diameter of an upper enlarged drillhole to be constructed, may not be worked around within the drillhole to construct the specified diameter of the drillhole.

(b) Conductor (tremie) pipes. Any conductor (tremie) pipe used for grouting shall meet the requirements of s. NR 812.20 (2) (b) .

(c) Mud balances. When rotary drilling mud and cuttings or clay slurry are used to seal the annular space of a well as specified by Tables I and II, a mud balance shall be used to determine that the mud weight is at least 11 pounds per gallon.

(d) Test pumps. A test pump shall be used to perform a well yield test upon completion of the well. A well yield test may be conducted using air-rotary equipment.

(2)   Materials. All materials permanently installed in a well shall be ne w , unused and approved for use except as specified in s. NR 812.26 (5) . Lead compounds used to lubricate and seal drill stem joints or any equipment entering a potable water well may not be used. Materials containing lead having a lead content greater than 0.025% by weighted average, may not be installed in a potable water well. “Lead wool" or other products containing more than 0.025% lead may not be used as seals in the bottom of an open-ended well casing pipes or as screens terminating in coarse formations.

(a) Well casing pipe. Well casing pipe and liner pipe shall meet the requirements of s. NR 812.17 .

(b) Drive-shoes. When a well casing pipe is driven, a drive-shoe shall be welded or threaded to the bottom of the well casing pipe according to s. NR 812.12 (5) . Couplings may not be used for drive-shoes. When the upper enlarged drillhole extends 20 feet or more into bedrock and the annular space is cement grouted before the lower drillhole is constructed, the use of a drive-shoe is optional.

(c) Gravel packs. Gravel packs shall meet the requirements of s. NR 812.16 .

(d) Screens. Screens shall meet the requirements of s. NR 812.13 (1) (e) . Lead bottom seals are prohibited. Brass screens may not have a lead content of more than 8%.

(e) Packers. Packers shall comply with s. NR 812.13 (1) (e) 4. Lead packers are prohibited.

(f) Centering guides. Centering guides or drive shoes used as centering guides shall be installed in well casing pipe in bedrock wells as specified in s. NR 812.14 (1) (f) .

(g) Drilling aids. Only approved drilling aids may be used in well and heat exchange drillhole construction and reconstruction. Approval of drilling aids is based on, but not limited to toxicit y , groundwater contamination potential and expected effectiveness of the materials. A list of approved drilling aids is available from the department upon request.

History: Cr. Register, January, 1991, No. 421 , eff. 2-1-91; corrections made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 7., Stats., Register, September, 1994, No. 465 ; CR 13-096 : am. (title), (1), (2) (intro.), (g), CR 13-099 : am. (1) Register September 2014 No. 705 , eff. 10-1-14.

Note

The “or" in brackets was inserted by CR 13-096 and is inconsistent with the treatment by 13-099. Future rulemaking will address any wording inconsistencies. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1