Well Drilling FAQ — Renfrew County Homeowner Questions

It depends on where your property is located within the county. In the Ottawa Valley sedimentary zone in the south — around Renfrew town, Arnprior, and Cobden — wells commonly reach 100–200 feet before adequate water yield is found. Limestone and sandstone layers in this zone are more porous and productive at shallower depths.

In the Canadian Shield granite zone in the north — near Deep River, Petawawa, and into the Madawaska Valley toward the Bancroft fringe — wells frequently need to go 200–400 feet or more. Water in Shield terrain is found in fractures within hard bedrock rather than in permeable sedimentary layers, which requires drilling deeper to intersect productive fractures. Well records from nearby properties, available through the Ontario Well Record Search at ontario.ca, can give you a realistic sense of typical depths for your specific area.

The steel or PVC casing of a properly constructed drilled well can last 50 years or more with minimal maintenance — in some cases significantly longer. The well bore itself does not wear out. However, the mechanical components have shorter expected service lives that property owners should plan for:

• Submersible pump: 10–15 years under normal use. Pump replacement is a routine maintenance cost, not a sign that the well has failed.
• Pressure tank: 10–15 years. A failing pressure tank bladder causes pump short-cycling, which accelerates pump wear if not addressed.

Regular water quality testing, annual well cap inspection, and prompt attention to any changes in water pressure or quality will extend the useful life of all well components.

Yes — this is a legal requirement under Ontario Regulation 903 under the Ontario Water Resources Act. Only a contractor holding a current water well contractor licence issued by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) may legally construct, alter, or decommission a well in Ontario. There are no exceptions for property owners drilling on their own land.

You can verify a contractor's licence on the Ontario government's online licensed contractor registry before engaging them. See our guide on verifying contractor licensing in Ontario.

Use the Ontario Well Record Search, available at ontario.ca. You can search by property address or by UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) coordinates. The database contains well records submitted by licensed contractors and shows depth, construction details, geological log, and water levels encountered during drilling.

Well records are particularly valuable when purchasing a rural property — they confirm that a registered well exists and provide construction details. If no well record is found for a property that appears to have a well, it may indicate an older unregistered well, which warrants further investigation before purchase.

The recommended minimum is annual testing for bacteria — specifically total coliform and E. coli. These tests are inexpensive and detect the most common and immediately health-relevant contamination. A single positive test for E. coli indicates the well should not be used for drinking until the source of contamination is identified and resolved.

For chemical parameters — nitrates, iron, manganese, hardness, pH, and other substances — testing every 3–5 years is generally recommended unless you have reason to suspect a specific issue (nearby fuel spills, agricultural intensification, changes in water taste or colour). Properties near intensive agriculture should consider more frequent nitrate testing. The Renfrew County and District Health Unit can advise on accredited local testing options.

Stop pumping immediately. Running a submersible pump dry — with no water in the casing to keep it cool — can burn out the pump motor rapidly. Once the pump has stopped, contact a licensed water well contractor to assess the situation.

A dry or very-low-yield well can have several causes: the static water level in the well has dropped due to drought or overuse, the pump has dropped below the static water level, or there is a mechanical issue with the pump. The contractor will measure the current water level and determine whether the problem requires adjusting the pump depth, deepening the well, or drilling a new well in a better location. Do not attempt to diagnose a dry well yourself — running the pump repeatedly on a low well causes compounding damage.

No. Ontario Regulation 903 establishes mandatory minimum setback distances that determine where a well may legally be located:

• 15 metres from any part of a septic system (tank, distribution box, leaching bed)
• 3 metres from the property line
• 30 metres from fuel storage tanks and associated piping
• 15 metres from barnyards, stables, pens, or similar structures

Your licensed contractor is responsible for siting the well in compliance with these setbacks. On smaller or irregularly shaped properties, setback compliance can meaningfully limit where a well can be placed. Discuss site constraints with your contractor before committing to a well location.

A pressure tank is a sealed vessel installed near the pump controls — typically in the basement or mechanical room — that stores a pressurized volume of water drawn from the well. Its job is to maintain water pressure in the home's plumbing between pump cycles.

Without adequate pressure tank capacity, the submersible pump would start and stop every time a tap opened or a toilet flushed — potentially dozens or hundreds of times per hour. This constant short-cycling would dramatically shorten the pump motor's life and cause pressure fluctuations throughout the house. All drilled wells require a properly sized pressure tank.

Inside the pressure tank, a rubber bladder or diaphragm separates the pressurized air from the water. Over time, this bladder can fail, causing the tank to become "waterlogged" — meaning there is no air cushion to maintain pressure between pump starts. A waterlogged tank needs to be replaced or recharged and is a common maintenance issue after 10–15 years.