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at your well
It’s the law. Ontario’s Wells Regulation under the Ontario Water Resources Act sets out your obligations as a well owner in Ontario. Once a well has been constructed, the well owner is responsible for ensuring that it is properly maintained.
Your family’s health depends on it!
Your well taps into one of nature’s treasures – cool, clean groundwater.
You and your family depend on this precious resource every day for cooking, washing, and a continuous supply of safe drinking water.
A multi-barrier approach
As a private water well owner, it is your responsibility to be well aware — to understand the basics of well maintenance and operation, and to take the necessary actions to keep your water wells in running order to provide drinkable water to your family. This booklet is a guide for individual household wells on constructing a new well, caring for an existing well, and plugging and sealing an unused well, all using a multi-barrier approach.
Eliminate the cause
If you have contaminated water, begin by considering the possible sources of contamination. Reducing or eliminating contaminants at the source is the best place to start.
Next, take a closer look at your well. If your well water repeatedly exceeds drinking water standards for bacteria, there is likely an ongoing source of bacteria affecting your well. Are there defects in the location, construction, or maintenance of your well that could account for the contamination? Address any problems you identify.
If you can’t detect the cause of the problem, bring in an MOE-licensed well contractor right away.
Correcting the source of the problem could be a lot cheaper than buying a home water treatment device.
Treatment may be beneficial – and even necessary in some circumstances. But treatment should be the final option, after taking steps to reduce contaminants and improve your well.
Protecting source water
is the first step in protecting your well water. Source protection is often the most cost-effective way to keep contaminants out of drinking water. Further, it is almost always less expensive to keep water clean than to try to deal with the consequences of contamination.
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