IA Well Driller flashcards
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- 567 IAC Chapter 49
- The Iowa administrative rule chapter setting technical standards for constructing, reconstructing, and plugging water wells, including location, casing, grouting, disinfection, and closure requirements.
- Certified water well contractor
- A DNR-issued credential required before a person may construct, reconstruct, or plug a water well; work must be done by the certified contractor or under that contractor's direct supervision.
- Well construction permit
- Site-specific DNR authorization obtained before drilling begins; it identifies the approved well location and intended use and must be available at the site during construction.
- Driller's well log
- Completion report filed with the Iowa DNR for each well, recording total depth, formations, casing and screen intervals, grout placement, water levels, and yield.
- Isolation distance measurement
- The horizontal distance from the well casing to the nearest edge of the potential contamination source, expressed in feet as required by Iowa well location rules.
- Septic tank setback
- Iowa requires a minimum horizontal separation of 50 feet between a water well casing and a septic tank or a sanitary sewer line serving the property.
- Leach field separation
- A soil absorption field, manure storage, feedlot, barnyard, or fuel storage must generally be at least 100 feet from the well casing under Iowa rules.
- Landfill separation distance
- Sanitary landfills, sewage lagoons, and wastewater land-application areas carry the largest required setback from a well, roughly 200 feet in Iowa.
- Hollow-stem auger drilling
- A continuous-flight auger with a hollow center that allows sampling and well installation in unconsolidated glacial drift; limited by boulders, deep holes, and artesian flow.
- Mud rotary drilling
- Circulating bentonite or polymer fluid removes cuttings and holds the borehole open; suited to deep sand, gravel, and bedrock but can plug permeable producing zones.
- Iowa alluvial aquifer
- Sand and gravel deposited in modern river valleys; shallow, high yielding, and highly vulnerable to surface contamination, so casing and annular grout must be tight.
- Paleozoic bedrock aquifer
- Iowa's limestone, dolomite, and sandstone aquifers, including the Jordan and St. Peter formations, which supply most deep bedrock wells through grouted casing and open boreholes.
- Neat cement grout
- Portland cement and water mixed at roughly no more than six gallons of water per sack, placed in the annular space to form a low-permeability sanitary seal around the casing.
- Tremie grout placement
- Pumping grout through a pipe kept submerged in the rising grout column, sealing the annulus from the bottom upward without voids or bridging in the seal.
- Two-inch annular clearance
- The minimum radial space between casing and borehole wall in typical practice so a continuous, uniform grout column can be placed along the full casing length.
- Well screen slot size
- Chosen from sieve analysis of the formation sample so the aquifer is retained while water enters; slots too large pass sand, slots too small throttle yield.
- Well development
- Surging, jetting, bailing, airlifting, or overpumping after drilling that removes mud and fines from the screen and gravel pack until discharge runs clear.
- Shock chlorination
- Treating a new or repaired well with a strong chlorine solution, commonly 50 to 100 mg/L, held 12 to 24 hours and then pumped to waste before sampling.
- Bacteriological sample hold time
- A coliform sample must reach the certified laboratory within about 30 hours of collection, kept chilled in a sterile bottle, or the result is invalid.
- Zero coliform standard
- A new or repaired well is satisfactory only when total coliform and E. coli are both absent; any detection requires re-disinfection, inspection, and retesting.
- Pitless adapter
- A watertight casing fitting that carries the discharge line out below the frost line, allowing the well to be sealed at the surface without a pit.
- Vermin-proof well cap
- An approved cap with a downward-facing screened vent that seals the casing top against insects, rodents, and surface water while allowing pressure equalization.
- Casing height above grade
- Iowa requires the well casing to project at least 12 inches above finished grade, with the surrounding ground mounded so runoff drains away from the wellhead.
- Pump setting depth
- Determined from static and pumping water levels, keeping the intake above the screen and well bottom to avoid sand entry and cavitation during drawdown.
- Abandoned well definition
- A well that is no longer used, is unusable, or is not maintained in a sanitary condition; Iowa law requires it be plugged by a certified contractor to protect groundwater.
- Bottom-up plugging
- Sealing method using a tremie line to fill the well with cement or bentonite grout from total depth upward, preventing bridging and gaps in the seal.
- Casing cutoff at plugging
- When a well is plugged, the casing is cut off below final grade, typically about three feet, the remaining stub filled with grout, and topsoil restored.
- Well plugging report
- Document filed with the Iowa DNR after closure that records the plugging method, sealing materials and volumes, well depth, and date of the work.
- Iowa One Call notice
- Excavators must contact 811 at least 48 hours before digging so buried utilities are located and marked before the drill rig breaks ground.
- Five-foot trench rule
- OSHA requires a protective system such as sloping, shoring, or a trench box for any excavation reaching five feet in depth or more.
- Spoil pile setback
- Excavated material, equipment, and tools must be kept at least two feet back from the trench edge to reduce surcharge loading and collapse risk.
- Drilling discharge containment
- Mud, cuttings, and chlorinated development water must be contained and never released to waters of the state, storm sewers, or roadside ditches.