1. Well Drillers/Pump Installers/
Abandoned Well Notification
and Referral Program

2. The Primary Goals of the Program
 Groundwater protection
 License qualified drillers and pump installers
 Establish and enforce minimum well
construction, well plugging, and pump
installation standards
 Administration of the Abandoned Well
Notification and Enforcement Program
 Regulation through cooperation with state and
federal agencies and local governments.

3. WELL DRILLER/PUMP INSTALLER
CONTACT INFORMATION
Department website: www.license.state.tx.us
Program main line: 512/463-7880
Program fax: 512/463-8616
Program email: water.well@license.state.tx.us
Customer Service: 512/463-6599
Customer Service email: cs.water.well@license.state.tx.us

4. Available on the Department’s website:
 Report Violations/File Complaints on-line
 Well Construction and Plugging Specifications
 Texas Well Report Submission and Retrieval System link
 TCEQ Well Report Viewer (for wells drilled before 2003)
 Water Well Driller Advisory Council information
 Well Reports
 Plugging Reports
 Undesirable Water and Constituent Reports
 License Applications
 Apprentice Registration Applications
 Tex. Admin. Code Chapter 76 (Rules)
 Tex. Occupations Code Chapters 1901 (Drillers) & 1902 (Pump Installers)
 Variance Request Forms
 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
 Upcoming continuing education courses
 Examination References
 Report Abandoned Wells

5. TDLR’s Home Page

6. Water Well Driller/Pump Installer
Web Page

7. Texas Well Report Submission and Retrieval System
 You can enter your well reports online, you will use your license number
(without the letters) for you User ID and a passcode issued by the
department.
 After entering the well report you will be given a tracking number and the
option to print the well report. We recommend that you write the tracking
number on your customer’s invoice, this way if you ever need to find the well
report you can pull the customer's file and enter the tracking number into the
search well report by tracking number field and you have the well report, no
need to maintain a copy of the well report in your records.
 If you drill multiple wells (i.e. soil boring, geothermal wells or monitoring
wells) at the same location and all the wells are the same depth and
completed the same, then you only need to fill out one well report and write
the number of wells drilled in the comment area.

8. Driller License Designations 76.600 (d)
A – Master Well Driller
W – Water Well Driller
M – Monitor Well Driller
C – Closed Loop Geothermal Well Driller
D – Dewatering Well Driller
N – Injection Well Driller

9. Pump Installer License Designations 76.600 (d)
I – Master Pump Installer
L – Windmills, Hand Pumps, and Pump Jacks
P – Single Phase Pump Installer
K – Three Phase Pump Installer
T – Line-shaft Turbine Pump Installer

10. Pump Column 76.1000 (m)
 Pump column material that has been used
in the production of oil or gas or has been
exposed to contamination may not be
placed in a well regulated by this
department.

11. Apprenticeship Requirements 76.206
 Supervisor must be within 1 hour travel time;
 Supervisor must visit the site once per day (drillers);
 Apprentice may not perform or offer outside of
apprenticeship;
 Apprentice may be supervised by other licensees with same
company as supervisor;
 With each renewal, supervisor must provide written progress
report evaluating performance compared to established
training program;
 To renew a registration as an apprentice, a registrant must
complete a 1 hour department approved continuing education
course dedicated to the WD/PI statutes and rules.
 A licensee may not supervise more than (3) apprentices at any

12. Local Authority
76.1000.
 (a) Wells shall be completed in accordance with the following
specifications and in compliance with the local groundwater
conservation district rules or incorporated city ordinances:

13. Groundwater Districts
 As you will notice on the following map,
there has been the addition of many
Groundwater Districts. Be sure to find out
before drilling if the well is located in a
district. If so, please contact the district
prior to drilling.

15. 76.708. Responsibilities of the Licensee - Adherence to
Manufacturer's Recommended Well Construction Materials
and Equipment
(a) It shall be the responsibility of the licensee to select the
correct slot size for manufacturer well screen in a domestic
(household use) water well to prevent sand/sediments from
entering the well unless waived by the landowner or person
having the well drilled in writing.
(b) It shall be the responsibility of the licensee to adhere to
manufacturers' recommended pump sizing and wiring
specifications.
(c) It shall be the responsibility of the licensee to select the
proper hydraulic collapse pressure for casing to be installed.

16. 76.703 Responsibilities of the Licensee – Standards of
Completion for Public Water System Wells
76.703(1)
The licensed driller shall, to the best of his or her abilities,
ascertain whether a well which is to be drilled, deepened, or
altered is intended for use as part of a public water system
and shall comply with all applicable rules of the TCEQ
under 30 TAC Chapter 290 and any other local codes or
regional regulations.
Questions should be directed to the TCEQ’s Water Utilities
and Districts Section at 512/239-4691

17. Water Wells Located Within Public Water Supply
Sanitary Easements
76.1000(k)
Water wells located within public water supply sanitary
easements (150 feet) must be constructed to public water well
standards pursuant to 30 TAC Chapter 290.

18. Drilling Fluids and Cuttings
76.1000(f)
Each licensed well driller drilling, deepening, or altering a well shall keep any
drilling fluids, tailings, cuttings, or spoils contained in such a manner so as to
prevent spillage onto adjacent property not under the jurisdiction or control
of the well owner without the adjacent property owners’ written consent.
76.1000(g)
Each licensed well driller drilling, deepening, or altering a well shall prevent
the spillage of any drilling fluids, tailings, cuttings, or spoils into any body
of surface water.

19. Variance
 (a) If the party having the well drilled, deepened or
altered, the licensed well driller, or the party, landowner
or person drilling or plugging the well, finds any of the
procedures prescribed by §§76.1000, 76.1001, 76.1002,
76.1003, 76.1004 and 76.1005 inapplicable, unworkable,
or inadequate, combinations of the prescribed
procedures or alternative procedures may be employed,
provided that the proposed alternative procedures will
prevent injury and pollution.
 (b) Written proposals to use combinations of prescribed
procedures or alternative procedures shall be considered
application for a variance and must be submitted to the
Department for review prior to their implementation, and
also provide a copy of the variance to the local
groundwater conservation district.

20. 76.1000(h) Chlorination/Disinfection of Wells
Unless waived by written request from the landowner, a new, repaired, or
reconditioned well or pump installation or repair on a well used for human
consumption shall be properly disinfected. The well shall be properly
disinfected with chlorine or other appropriate disinfecting agent under the
circumstances.
A disinfecting solution with a minimum concentration of fifty
(50) Milligrams per liter (mg/L) (ppm), shall be placed in the well as required
by the American Water Works Association (AWWA), pursuant to
ANST/AWWA C654-87 and the United States Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).

21. 76.702 Responsibilities of the Licensee and
Landowner
(Access Denied)
76.702(a)(1) If well is not completed to established specifications.
Where a landowner, or person having the well drilled, deepened, or altered, denies a licensed well
driller access to the well to complete the well to established standards and thereby precludes the
driller from performing his or her duties under the Texas Occupations Code, Chapters 1901 and
1902 and this title, the well driller shall file with the Department a statement to that effect within
five days of the denial. The landowner or person authorizing the well work must complete the
well to established standards within ten days of notification by the Department.
76.702(e)(1) If undesirable water is encountered.
Where a person or landowner having the well drilled, deepened, or altered denies a licensed
driller access to a well which requires plugging or completion or otherwise precludes the driller
from plugging or completing a well which has encountered undesirable water or constituents, the
driller shall, within 48 hours, file a signed statement to that effect with the Department and
provide a copy of the statement to the local groundwater conservation district.

22. Well construction
 In the following slide you will notice the
proper completion of a well. It shows:
 The 10 feet of annular cement
 The sloping slab that extends 2 feet in all
directions
 The casing extending 12 inches above
land surface.

23. Well Construction Specifications

24. Annular Seal Violations Examples
Appears to be in compliance After inspection no cement

25. Annular Seal Violations
Appears to be in compliance After inspection no cement

26. Alternative Surface Completion
 The following two slides indicate the
proper completion methods for using a
sleeve and a pitless adapter.

29. Annular Cement & Surface Completion
Violations

30. Improper Annular Seal, Surface Completion, and Cap
Beyond popular belief, electrical, duct or
scotch tape is not a proper cap
Look the cement almost made it in.

31. Proper Surface Completion

32. Proper Alternate Surface Completions

34. Setbacks
 The following slides show the proper
distances for setback on septic tanks,
drain fields and potential sources of
contamination and;
 The proper well completion for reducing
the setbacks.

38. 76.1000(a)(6)(A)(B)(C) Exceptions To Property Line
Distance Requirements
(6) The following are exceptions to the property line distance requirement
where:
(A) groundwater conservation district rules are in place regulating the
spacing of wells;
(B) platted or deed restriction subdivision spacing of wells and on-site
sewage systems are part of the planning; or
(C) public wastewater treatment is provided and utilized by the
landowner.

39. If A Well Driller Knowingly Encounters Undesirable
Water or Constituents Overlying Or Underlying Fresh Water
Or Is Producing Undesirable Water
76.1001(3)(4) & 76.1002(b) & 76.1004 (a)(4)
Bentonite grout may not be used if a water zone contains chlorides above one
thousand five hundred (1500) parts per million (mg/L) or if hydrocarbons are
present.
The use of bentonite in well plugging operations also falls under the chloride
and hydrocarbon criteria.

40. Proper completion method to prevent commingling of aquifers and
zones

41. Proper completion method to prevent commingling of aquifers and zones

42. Proper completion method for the production of undesirable
water

44. Abandoned and Deteriorated
Water Wells
(TAC Chapter 1901.255)

45. A view of the inside of an old abandoned hand dug well

46. Is this well abandoned? Can it be brought into compliance?
The answer is yes and yes, see the next slide to find out why.

47. Abandoned well means…
(§ 1901.255) …a well that is not in use. A well is considered to
be in use in the following cases:
 the well is not a deteriorated well and contains the casing, pump, and pump
column in good condition;
 the well is not a deteriorated well and has been capped;
 the well is used in the normal course and scope and with the intensity and
frequency of other similar users in the general community; or
 the owner is participating in the Conservation Reserve Program or similar
governmental program.

48. Are 5 gallon buckets proper caps for wells?.....look at the
bucket
e r
p rop
Im Cap

49. Deteriorated Wells
TAC 1901.255 (a) (2)
"Deteriorated well" means a well that because of its
condition, will cause or is likely to cause pollution of
any water in this state, including groundwater.

50. Is the well properly completed? Let’s take a closer look on the next
slide.

51. Apparently not, no slab or sleeve and no annular cement!
By the way, that would be 3 violations!!!

52. Well Plugging Specifications
(Chapter 76.1004)

54. Large Hand Dug and Bored Wells…
…36-inches or greater in diameter to one hundred (100) feet:
 May be plugged by backfilling with compacted clay or caliche to surface.
 All removable debris shall be removed from the well.
 If the well contains standing water, it shall be chlorinated by adding
chlorine bleach at a rate of one (1) gallon of bleach for every five hundred
(500) gallons of standing water.
 Leave fill mounded to compensate for settling (recommend cement plug
below ground level).

55. This is what can happen if these large diameter wells are left unplugged.
Oh and by the way, the horse survived, with the help of the fire department
And two winch trucks.

56. Chapter 76.1005
Wells drilled prior to June 1, 1983, will be grandfathered without
further modification unless the well is found to be a threat to
public health and safety or to groundwater quality.
The following will be considered a threat to public health and
safety or to groundwater quality:

57. 1. the annular space around the well casing is open at the land surface;
2. an unprotected opening in the well casing that is above ground
level;
3. top of well casing is below known flood level and not appropriately
sealed;
4. deteriorated well casing allowing commingling of aquifers or zones
of water of different quality;
5. water wells with the well head below ground level unless the
Department grants a variance.
6. water wells located within fifty (50) feet of a source of
contamination which affects the quality of water produced by the
well. (Amended December 1. 2006)
The following slide shows the proper well completion method for
wells drilled before June 1, 1983.

59. Dry Holes
Chapter 76.1004 (c)
Wells which do not encounter groundwater (dry holes) may be
plugged by backfilling with drill cuttings from total depth to
within two (2) feet of the surface (or plow depth); where a two
(2) feet cement plug shall be poured.

60. Driller and/or Pump Installer
Responsibilities
Texas Occupations Code Chapters 1901 and 1902 requires:
Each licensed driller or pump installer who knows of an
abandoned or deteriorated well shall notify the landowner or
person possessing the well that well must be plugged or capped
in
order to avoid injury or pollution.
The 16 TEX. ADMIN. CODE Ch. 76 Rules specify well
re-completion standards if the landowner intends on keeping
and using a well in this category.

61. Plugging, Capping Or Re-completion Operations
(Chapter 76.702)
The abandoned and/or deteriorated well(s) must be plugged,
capped or re-completed by a licensed driller, licensed pump
installer or the landowner themselves.

62. Groundwater Conservation District (GCD) Enforcement
Action Authority
Abandoned and/or Deteriorated Wells
(effective September 1, 2003)
The 78th Legislature authorized GCDs to enforce compliance
with Tex. Occupations Code Chapter 1901.255 related to
abandoned and deteriorated wells within the boundaries of the
District.
GCDs can conduct abandoned/deteriorated well investigations,
bring enforcement actions against well owners, or refer
complaints and investigations to the Department.

63. And that concludes the required water
well driller and pump installer 1 hour statutes
and rules continuing education course.