DEQ Well Permit Decision Tool
DEQ and DHHS have created a Well Permit Decision Tool to find permitted facilities that are known sources of contamination near proposed private wells. The Well Permitting Decision Tool was designed to identify “Known Source of Release of Contamination” and help well permitters provide the public with additional sampling recommendations. Its intent is to identify known sources of a release from a facility or from the source. You can use the Tool to look at these sources for any part of North Carolina.
Private Well Permitting
Private water wells are handled by county health departments and the Division of Public Health at the NC Department of Health and Human Services.
Under the statewide private well testing program administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and local health departments, all new private drinking water wells since 2008 are sampled by local health departments and analyzed for a standardized list of chemical constituents by the State Laboratory for Public Health in the Department. Sampling may also be performed for private wells at any time.
When an individual well exceeds health-based drinking water or DEQ groundwater standards for one or more contaminants, the local health department, along with DHHS, provides the well owner with information about the constituents that have been found and what steps are necessary to protect the well users’ health. Where appropriate, local health departments contact DEQ for assistance in identifying the source of contamination - often naturally occurring - and other affected well users.
For additional information, contact Dean Grantham via email at dean.grantham@ncdenr.gov.
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