Well Drilling in Martin County, MN

• Coverage includes Fairmont, Sherburn, Truman, Welcome, Trimont, Ceylon, Granada, Northrop and Dunnell.
• Other Minnesota and Midwest pages on this site: Itasca County, MN and Tippecanoe County, IN.
• MDH's Well Management Section handles notifications and contractor licensing for the state.

• Replacement wells for farmsteads and older rural homes
• Livestock and barn water supplies
• Pump and pressure tank replacement
• Sealing unused wells before a sale or building project
• Water testing after drilling or flooding
• Siting a new well around feedlots, septic systems and chemical storage

• Local depth: at the USGS median of about 140 ft, the site calculator's formula gives $5,000–$13,600 for a complete well. At the 75th percentile (232 ft) it gives $7,300–$19,580, and at the 90th (300 ft) $9,000–$24,000. The calculator's method is depth × $25–$65 per foot plus permit, pump and tank allowances, so treat it as an estimate.
• State fees: Minnesota statute sets a $325 notification fee for a water-supply well and $125 to seal a well.
• Farm setbacks: Minnesota Rules part 4725.4450 keeps wells 50 feet from a feedlot holding more than one animal unit and 100 feet from an unroofed solid manure pile, which can push the well farther from the yard and add trenching.
• Most of the USGS records are older wells, so ask the driller for nearby logs in the Minnesota Well Index before relying on the median.

• Step 1, notify: Minnesota Rules part 4725.1820 says a well can't be built until a notification is filed with MDH with the fee; Minnesota Statutes § 103I.208 sets it at $325 for a water-supply well. The notification is valid for 18 months.
• Step 2, siting: Minnesota Rules part 4725.4450 sets minimum distances, including 50 feet from a septic tank or soil dispersal area, 75 feet from a cesspool or dry well, and 150 feet from an unprotected tank holding 25 gallons or more of agricultural chemical.
• Step 3, drilling: a licensed well contractor builds the well to the Minnesota Rules Chapter 4725 code.
• Step 4, report: Minnesota statute (chapter 103I) says the contractor submits a report of work within 60 days of completion, which goes into the state well records.
• Step 5, unused wells: sealing an unused well also needs a notification; § 103I.208 sets that fee at $125 per well.

• Glacial drift: the county is covered by thick glacial till with buried sand and gravel, and most domestic wells finish in a sand aquifer layer inside the till. USGS records code six deeper wells to the Cretaceous formation in the bedrock below the drift and two to the Mount Simon sandstone, the deepest aquifer layer in southern Minnesota. Where the drift aquifer is thin, a driller may have to go on to bedrock, which adds depth and cost.
• USGS site records (n=191 with depth): 25th percentile 91 ft, median about 140 ft, 75th percentile 232 ft, 90th percentile 300 ft.
• Lakes and drainage: Fairmont's chain of lakes and the tiled fields along the Blue Earth River and Elm Creek drainages shape where shallow groundwater moves near the surface, so siting matters near drained wetlands.
• Census ACS puts the median year built at 1960 across about 9,729 housing units, among the oldest housing stock of any county on this site.

Fairmont · Sherburn · Truman · Welcome · Trimont · Ceylon · Granada · Northrop · Dunnell