Well Drilling in Union County, GA

• Coverage includes Blairsville, Suches, Choestoe, Ivylog, Coosa, Track Rock, Gumlog and the lots around Nottely Lake.
• Other north Georgia counties on this site: Hall County, Cherokee County and Jackson County.
• District 2 Public Health lists Union among the four counties in its district that issue well construction permits, so the permit goes through the Union County Environmental Health office in Blairsville.

• New domestic wells on mountain and cabin lots
• Replacement wells where an old shallow or bored well went dry in drought
• Submersible pump and pressure tank swaps
• Deepening or relocating a low-yield bore
• Bacterial and chemical testing after drilling or a pump job
• Well plugging for wells left unused

• Local depth: at the USGS median of about 415 ft, the site calculator's formula gives $11,875–$31,475 for a complete well. At the 75th percentile (about 508 ft) it gives $14,190–$37,490, and at the 90th (about 605 ft) $16,610–$43,790. The method is depth × $25–$65 per foot, plus permit $200–$500, pump $900–$2,500 and tank $400–$1,500. It is an estimate, not a quote, and the USGS sample is small and mostly older wells.
• Yield: USGS HA 730-G puts average reported yields in Piedmont and Blue Ridge aquifers at about 15 to 20 gallons per minute, so a driller may go deeper to find a second fracture.
• Access: steep, narrow driveways on ridge lots can need a smaller rig or extra site work, which shows up in the quote.
• Hard-rock bit wear and grout volume rise with depth, so ask for a per-foot price past the first estimate.

• Step 1, permit: District 2 Public Health says Union County issues well construction permits; apply at the county Environmental Health office before work starts. The fee comes from the county board of health schedule adopted under Union County Code Sec. 38-114, so confirm the current amount with the office. The site calculator budgets $200–$500 for permits.
• Step 2, contractor: Georgia DPH says wells must be installed by a licensed water well contractor, who must notify the county health department before drilling under the Water Well Standards Act.
• Step 3, siting: Georgia DPH lists minimum distances of 10 feet from a sewer line, 50 feet from a septic tank, 100 feet from an absorption field, 150 feet from a cesspool and 100 feet from an animal enclosure. In a flood-prone spot the casing must end at least two feet above the highest known flood.
• Step 4, test: Georgia DPH guidance calls for a bacterial test every year and the W33C chemical screen, which includes arsenic and lead, every 3 years.
• Step 5, records: keep the driller's log and the permit; buyers and lenders often ask for both.

• Gneiss and schist bedrock along the ridges north and east of Blairsville is typical of the county. Blue Ridge rock: USGS HA 730-G describes gneiss and schist under a layer of saprolite that reaches 150 feet thick in places; wells draw from that weathered layer and from fractures in the rock below it.
• USGS site records (n=20 with depth): 25th percentile about 314 ft, median about 415 ft, 75th percentile about 508 ft. Sixteen of those wells are coded to the crystalline-rock aquifer, and groundwater in the valleys along Nottely River and Coosa Creek often sits in a thicker weathered layer than on the ridges.
• USGS Georgia reports about 100.5 million gallons per day drawn from the state's crystalline-rock aquifers in 2015, mostly for domestic use, and notes that local water levels respond quickly to drought and pumping.
• Census ACS counts about 15,164 housing units in the county with a median year built of 1995, so many wells date from the 1990s and 2000s and are now due for pump work.

Blairsville · Suches · Choestoe · Ivylog · Coosa · Track Rock · Gumlog · Nottely Lake