IGI W

ater W

ell

IGI W

ater W

ell

Guideline

sGuideline

s

Geoff Wright

Geoff Wright

Consultant

Consultant H

ydrogeologist

Hydrogeologist

IGI

Co

nfe

ren

ce

4 O

cto

be

r 2

00

7

‘Gro

un

dw

ate

r &

Su

sta

ina

ble

De

ve

lop

me

nt’

Con

text

Con

text(1)

(1)

��Boo

m in

Boo

m in

construc

tion

co

nstruc

tion

industry

industry

��Man

y on

eMan

y on

e--

off hom

es in

off hom

es in

rural areas

rural areas

withou

t withou

t mains water

mains water

Con

text (2)

Con

text (2)

�Owne

r/builder of

new hou

se m

ust co

mply with:

�plan

ning

perm

ission

�building re

gulation

s

�use certified con

trac

tors

�se

ptic tan

k co

nditions to avoid water po

llution

�Must meet stan

dards to ensure health

& saf

ety

of residents & pub

lic.

�Major exce

ption -private borehole -but health

of

residents depe

nds on

it

The Problem

�Man

y Ir

ish peop

le depe

nd on private water wells

�> 10

0,000 boreholes …

�…mostly drilled since

1960s, when DTH rigs ca

me in

�Man

y drilling co

mpa

nies -ve

ry com

petitive

ind

ustry

�W

ater wells co

nstruc

ted quick

ly & cheap

ly

�No time to grou

t ca

sing

in plac

e

�W

ellsof

ten po

orly prote

cted aga

inst pollution

IGI Resp

onse

IGI Resp

onse

��W

orking Group

dre

w

Working Group

dre

w

up W

ater W

ell

up W

ater W

ell

Guideline

sGuideline

s

��Pu

blish

ed M

arch

Pu

blish

ed M

arch

2007

2007 --

first step

first step

��Aim

Aim

––to pre

vent

to pre

vent

grou

ndwater

grou

ndwater

pollution

pollution

Guideline

s circulated to

delega

tes

Key Objectives

�Con

sumer Educ

ation –to deman

d higher

stan

dards

�Driller Motivation –to offer higher stan

dards

�Regu

lation

–to requ

ire higher stan

dards

3 d

oc

um

en

ts3

do

cu

me

nts

Su

mm

ary

“Wa

ter

We

ll

Co

ns

tru

cti

on

”-

to a

vo

id

po

lluti

on

“Ex

pla

inin

g G

rou

nd

wa

ter

an

d W

ate

r W

ells

”-

info

rme

d c

on

su

me

r (&

reg

ula

tor)

es

se

nti

al

to

rais

ing

sta

nd

ard

s

Ex

pla

inin

g G

rou

nd

wa

ter

an

d W

ate

r W

ells

Groundwater occurrence at site

Groundwater occurrence at site

Common well construction in Ireland

Common well construction in Ireland

Reco

mmend

ations detailed in

Reco

mmend

ations detailed in

Guideline

s (1)

Guideline

s (1)

��Drill water wells where

pollution

least like

lyDrill water wells where

pollution

least like

ly

�Seal wellhead –

to exclude surface water

�Case & grout to adequate depth –

to exclude

shallow groundwater

�Standards for casing/screen/grout

specification/placement

�Key element -

GROUTING

We

ll c

on

str

uc

tio

n i

n b

ed

roc

k

Grouting

Grouting

We

ll D

es

ign

in

Be

dro

ck

Aq

uif

er

We

ll D

es

ign

in G

rav

el

Aq

uif

er

Reco

mmend

ations detailed in

Reco

mmend

ations detailed in

Guideline

s (2)

Guideline

s (2)

��W

ell drillers, equ

ipment & m

eth

ods to

Well drillers, equ

ipment & m

eth

ods to

meet stan

dards

meet stan

dards

��Clean

& disinfe

ct wells

Clean

& disinfe

ct wells

��Test wells fo

r yield

Test wells fo

r yield

��Test for water qu

ality

Test for water qu

ality ––man

datory list

man

datory list

of param

eters

of param

eters

Next steps

for IGI and

IAH

Next steps

for IGI and

IAH

(a)

(a)

Additional proposals outlined in Sum

mary:

��Self

Self-- regu

latory organ

isation to certify co

mpe

tenc

e

regu

latory organ

isation to certify co

mpe

tenc

e

of com

panies & drillers to meet re

quirements.

of com

panies & drillers to meet re

quirements.

��Aban

don

ed wells to be sealed to preve

nt pollution

.Aban

don

ed wells to be sealed to preve

nt pollution

.

��W

ell drilling

Well drilling --

under Plan

ning

& Building re

gulation

s un

der Plan

ning

& Building re

gulation

s --

ensure con

ditions/spe

cifica

tion

s attach

ed/e

nforce

d.

ensure con

ditions/spe

cifica

tion

s attach

ed/e

nforce

d.

Next steps

for IGI and

IAH

Next steps

for IGI and

IAH

(b)

(b)

New proposals:

New proposals:

�Record keeping:Drillers to provide well

owne

rs with details of

well con

struction -to

assist future repa

ir & m

aintena

nce

�High-yielding water wells:

Guideline

s fo

r uideline

s fo

r higher

higher --yielding wells fo

r pu

blic supp

lies,

yielding wells fo

r pu

blic supp

lies,

industry, etc.

industry, etc.

Next steps

for IGI and

IAH

Next steps

for IGI and

IAH

(c)

(c)

Guidelines for other borehole types

�Geotherm

al boreholes –grou

ndwater-source

heat pum

ps�

Groun

dwater exploration boreholes

�Mon

itoring wells

�Site investigation boreholes

�Mineral exploration boreholes

Next steps

for IGI and

IAH

Next steps

for IGI and

IAH

(d)

(d)

��IGI & IAH have impo

rtan

t roles

IGI & IAH have impo

rtan

t roles

��Can

adap

t existing

protoco

ls/stand

ards

Can

adap

t existing

protoco

ls/stand

ards

��Sealing/

deco

mmission

ing of

all un

used

Sealing/

deco

mmission

ing of

all un

used

boreholes im

portan

tboreholes im

portan

t

Reg

ulations along

thes

e Reg

ulations along

thes

e lin

es are

com

mon

plac

e lin

es are

com

mon

plac

e in m

any dev

elop

ed and

in m

any dev

elop

ed and

dev

elop

ing co

untries.

dev

elop

ing co

untries.

It is time fo

r Ir

elan

d to

It is time fo

r Ir

elan

d to

catch up, by insisting

catch up, by insisting

on high stand

ards in

on high stand

ards in

water

well d

rilling

.water

well d

rilling

.