The Old Well, the Expired Permit, and the Closing Date
A licensed driller is called three days before a property closing. The seller has a 1965 dug well, 4 ft in diameter and 30 ft deep, with a cracked concrete cover in the side yard. A new 6-inch drilled well was completed eight months ago, but the driller cannot find the well completion report in the office file and the county permit expired before the new well was finished. The buyer’s lender requires a 'well certification.' The realtor asks the driller to write that the old well is 'not in use' and to skip re-testing because the new well’s earlier coliform result was positive but 'probably just the sampling bottle.' The old well is 35 ft from the new well and 20 ft from the property line. The seller wants to keep the old well for garden irrigation with a portable pump.
1. What are the driller’s regulatory obligations for the old well, the new well’s missing report, and the expired permit?
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The old dug well cannot simply be labeled 'not in use.' An open, cracked, brick-lined dug well is a physical hazard and a direct pathway for surface water and shallow contamination. If it is to be taken out of service, it must be abandoned properly by a licensed well driller under the applicable Maryland well-construction requirements, with the approving authority’s permit or approval. That normally means removing or collapsing the upper lining as required, filling the well with approved grout or fill, and sealing the top. Keeping it for garden irrigation with a portable pump would still require it to meet well-construction and siting requirements; it cannot remain an open hole 35 ft from the new well.
The missing completion report must be filed with the approving authority and MDE as required; it cannot be reconstructed from memory and backdated. The expired permit is a separate issue: contact the approving authority before doing more work, explain the sequence, and follow its direction for renewal or after-the-fact review. A lender certification may state only what the driller knows and has documented.
2. How should the positive coliform result be handled before any certification is signed? What should the driller tell the realtor?
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A positive coliform result is not a sampling-bottle problem until it is investigated. The well should be disinfected, including the pump, drop pipe, pressure tank, and interior piping, with a chlorine solution at about 100 mg/L and adequate contact time. Then flush until the chlorine residual is gone and resample through a certified laboratory for total coliform and E. coli. If the repeat is positive, inspect the sanitary seal, casing, grout, pitless adapter, and the influence of the old dug well. The old well may be the source of contamination and should be abandoned before the new well is retested.
The driller should tell the realtor that no certification of potability will be signed until the well passes a proper retest. The earlier positive result must be disclosed and resolved, not explained away. Writing a false or unsupported certification can expose the driller to license discipline and liability. The closing schedule is not a reason to skip disinfection, retesting, or the abandonment permit.