The Groundwater Protection and Wells Section of Wake County Environmental Services helps private well users get safe drinking water. We do this by enforcing Wake County’s ordinances related to construction, repair, and abandonment of private water supply wells. We also provide owners and users of existing private drinking water wells the following services:
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Encouraging proper well maintenance (Groundwater Awareness Week)
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Technical assistance (chlorination, understanding test results, etc.)
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Outreach and education
For Private Well Owners, Users, Realtors, and Lenders
Well Contractors and Pump Installers
Find a Well Contractor
All persons, firms or corporations engaging in well contractor activities involving wells for irrigation, private or semi-public domestic use, as well as for geothermal heat exchange injection wells in Wake County shall register annually with the Department as per Section III of the Regulations Governing Well Construction and Groundwater Protection In Wake County.
View a list of well contractors registered in Wake County here.
Submit a Well Concern
Please click here to report any:
- improperly abandoned wells
- concerns about improper well construction
- renter concerns about water from a private well
- concerns about man-made contamination in a well
If you are seeking routine well water testing, need to repair or abandon a well, or need a well permit, please apply on the Wake County Permit Portal or contact a certified well contractor.
Awards and Recognition
Wake County Well Water Protection
Category: Health
Abstract:
In Wake County, 40,000 households — nearly 10% of residents — use private well water for drinking, cooking and bathing. Contaminated well water has the potential to impact resident health. Wake County Water Quality reviews potential groundwater contaminants near residential properties before permitting new private wells. This workflow can be time consuming for staff. Wake County Water Quality and GIS partnered to create the Potential Contaminant Viewer, an easy-to-use GIS application to improve the process. The Potential Contaminant Viewer allows staff to search for a property and buffer by 1,500 feet to review whether one or more of the 25 potential contaminants are within the buffer. The potential contaminant data layers are streamed directly to the application from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ). Additional GIS data, including geology and extent of public water utilities, are available in the application. The team began using the Viewer in September 2022. In the first six months, Water Quality staff have used the Viewer to screen over 180 sites for potential contamination, saving an estimated 20 hours of research time. The Viewer is being used by Water Quality weekly to reduce research time before permitting private wells. We’ll drink (clean water) to that!
