Maintaining Your Well

Follow the tips below to keep you and your family healthy by caring for your drinking water. Technical assistance is offered by the Snohomish County Health Department. If you think something is off with your well and aren't sure what to do, please email SHD-EHQ@snoco.org.

For additional information on how to care for your private well, see the Department of Ecology's Information for Owners of Private Wells

  1. Learn About Your Well
  2. Inspect & Protect
  3. Abandoned Wells 

where is my well?

You can search for well report records on your property by using the Department of Ecology's Well Report Viewer.

It is important to know the location of wells on your property so you can protect them from damage and easily inspect them. Take precautions if you don't know where a well is. It is possible to fall into an uncovered or damaged well. The opening might be overgrown or the cover could be damaged and break under added weight. When looking for wells, be safe and do not go out alone.

It is important to keep in mind that wells dug prior to 1973 may not have been recorded. Just because you don't see a well on your records doesn't mean none exist on your property. If you find an old or abandoned well, it must be decommissioned (see the Abandoned Wells tab on this page).

what type of well do i have?

There are two main types of wells: dug wells and drilled wells. You should be able to tell which kind you have based on their appearance.

Dug wells

  • Wider (roughly 3 feet across but can be larger)
  • Lined with concrete tile

drilled wells

  • Have a well casing that sticks up above the ground, roughly 6-inch-wide PVC or steel
  • It will have at least one other pipe/casing connected to it (typically an electrical conduit)
  • Below ground (roughly 6-12 inches) there is a transport pipe called a "pitless adapter" which moves water to the house

how old is my well?

Check your records to learn how old your well is. Remember that wells dug before 1973 might not have been recorded. Older wells are more susceptible to contamination from surface water runoff. This is because they are more likely to have an issue with their surface seal. Wells drilled after 1990 are more likely to have an adequate surface seal.