So You Need a Water Well?

Domestic water wells supply about 350,000 Nebraskans with groundwater for daily use. However, many don't understand groundwater and the importance of proper water well construction.

"So You Need a Water Well: A Consumers Guide to Homeowner's Drinking Water in Nebraska" was developed to help people understand the construction of water wells for domestic use.

"We hope this brochure will give people a basic understanding of groundwater and water wells," said Lee Orton, director of the Nebraska Well Drillers Association. Most people construct a well only once, and they need to be able to find a good contractor, he added.

The brochure explains the major issues in Nebraska related to groundwater quality and quantity, getting a permit to construct a well, choosing a pump, testing a well, how water is pumped to the house and how to hire a contractor, explained Duane Eversoll, associate director of CSD, a unit of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Orton said he hopes extension educators, contractors, real estate agents, bankers and others who frequently work with people needing or using domestic wells will offer the brochure to their clients. The brochure may be obtained from NU Cooperative Extension offices statewide; the Nebraska Well Drillers Association at Suite 200, 100 N. Eighth Street, Lincoln, NE 68508, or call (402) 476-0162; or contact CSDs Lincoln office at 113 Nebraska Hall, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE. 68588-0517, or phoning (402) 472-7523.