Well Drilling in Lawrence County, PA

• Coverage includes New Wilmington, Volant, Pulaski, Neshannock, Shenango, Hickory, Plain Grove, Scott, Slippery Rock Township, Enon Valley, Wampum and Bessemer.
• Other eastern pages on this site: Garrett County, MD and the two New Hampshire counties.
• The Pennsylvania DCNR licenses water well drillers and keeps the state groundwater records system.

• Replacement wells for older farmhouses
• New wells for rural home sites
• Pump and pressure tank replacement
• Testing and treatment for iron, hardness and bacteria
• Well caps and casing extensions on old wells
• Plugging unused wells

• Local depth: at the USGS median of about 88 ft, the site calculator's formula gives $3,690–$10,190 for a complete well. At the 75th percentile (about 115 ft) it gives $4,370–$11,960, and at the 90th (204 ft) $6,600–$17,760. The calculator's method is depth × $25–$65 per foot plus permit, pump and tank allowances, so these are estimates.
• Aquifer: USGS records code 37 wells to glacial outwash (median near 70 feet) and dozens more to Pottsville sandstones such as the Homewood (median near 95 feet).
• Few permit costs: with no state construction permit, the main fees are local, and the calculator's permit allowance may be high for many townships.
• Water treatment for iron or hardness, common in sandstone and shale bedrock wells, can add more than extra drilling. Where the sandstone aquifer is thin, a driller may case through shale or a coal layer to reach water, which adds casing and grout.

• Step 1, local check: PA DEP says the state does not regulate private homeowner wells, so ask your township or borough whether a local well permit or setback ordinance applies.
• Step 2, driller: the DCNR licensing program covers commercial drillers under the Water Well Drillers License Act (32 P.S. § 645.1 and following) and 17 Pa. Code Chapter 47; its page says the license costs $60 a year and each rig permit $20. Homeowners drilling on their own land are exempt.
• Step 3, records: licensed drillers submit well records through the DCNR groundwater information system (PaGWIS), so ask for a copy of yours.
• Step 4, setbacks: with no state siting code for home wells, ask the driller to place the well uphill of, and as far as the lot allows from, the septic system, fuel tanks and barnyard.
• Step 5, test: PA DEP's private well page directs owners to state-accredited labs for bacteria and other tests after drilling.

• Bedrock: across the uplands east and south of New Castle, Pennsylvanian rocks of the Pottsville and Allegheny formations, sandstone, shale, coal and some limestone, underlie the county, and USGS records code wells to the Homewood, Connoquenessing and Mercer sandstones of the Pottsville.
• Glacial outwash: the northern and western part of the county was glaciated, and the outwash aquifer along the Shenango River and Neshannock Creek valleys holds shallower water; USGS records code 37 wells to outwash.
• USGS site records (n=172 with depth): 25th percentile 66 ft, median about 88 ft, 75th percentile about 115 ft, 90th percentile 204 ft.
• Census ACS puts the median year built at 1957 across about 39,591 housing units, and about 27.7% were built before 1940, so many wells serving older homes are dug or shallow.

New Wilmington · Volant · Pulaski · Neshannock · Shenango · Hickory · Plain Grove · Scott · Enon Valley · Wampum · Bessemer