A well is supplied with water from an underground water source known as groundwater. Groundwater is stored below the surface of the earth in aquifers, often between sediments and in bedrock fractures. It accumulates from surface water and precipitation – including rain and snow melt – infiltrating the earth and filling underground cracks, pores, and crevices.
There are good sources of information on groundwater in your area, such as water well records on file with the Department of Environment and Climate Change, Water Resources Management Division.
The Groundwater Section has a number of products and services available via the web and through government offices:
- Groundwater Wells: What You Need to Know
- Well Drilling Statistics
- Water Well Drillers – Information
- List of Licenced Water Well Drillers
- Responsibilities of the Well Driller, Well Owner, and Others concerning Drilled Wells
- Aquifer Testing Guidelines (1.73 MB)
- Guidelines for Disinfecting Dug and Drilled Wells
- Guidelines for Sealing Groundwater Wells (210 KB)
- Fact Sheet for Water Well Development by Hydrofracturing
- Groundwater Supply Assessment and Reporting Guidelines For Subdivisions Serviced by Individual Private Wells
- Groundwater Data
- Technical Reports
- Hydrogeology of Newfoundland and Labrador
- Well Head Protection Area Delineation for Small Municipal Groundwater Supplies (44 MB)
- Groundwater Under Direct Influence of Surface Water (GUDI) – Newfoundland and Labrador (38.3 MB)
- Drilled Well Database Evaluation and Correction (6 MB)
- Groundwater Vulnerability Mapping Eastern Newfoundland
- Executive Summary (1.7 MB)
- Task 1: Data Compilation (34.3 MB)
- Task 2: Study Area Hydrogeology (25.7 MB)
- Task 3: Results and Analysis (121 MB)