Well Plugging and Abandonment in Georgetown, TX
Georgetown Well Drilling plugs and seals abandoned wells across Georgetown and Williamson County, Texas, to state and groundwater district rules. An old well that no longer produces does not just sit there harmlessly. It is an open shaft into the aquifer, a safety hazard on the surface, and a legal responsibility that belongs to whoever owns the land. Sealing it correctly is the only way to close that liability.
Central Texas is full of old wells. A property gets a well, the well ages out, a new one is drilled, and the original is left open and forgotten. Then someone buys the land, builds on it, or drills again, and the abandoned hole becomes a problem. We are a licensed Texas water well contractor, and plugging these wells to code is work we do the right way, with the paperwork to prove it.
Why an Open Well Is a Real Problem
An unused well is a direct pipe from the surface into the groundwater. Rainwater runoff, chemicals, and contamination that would normally filter through hundreds of feet of soil and rock instead pour straight down an open borehole into the aquifer your neighbors drink from. On the surface, an uncovered or lightly covered old well is a fall hazard for people and livestock. Neither risk goes away on its own, and both trace back to a hole that was never sealed.
Plugged Correctly and Documented
Plugging a well is not capping the top. We fill the borehole with cement or bentonite grout from the bottom up, following the state and district rules for the well's depth and construction, so the sealed hole can never again carry contamination down. Then we file the plugging report, because a plugging that is not recorded is not finished. When we are done, the aquifer is protected, the surface hazard is gone, and there is a documented record that the well was sealed the right way.
Have an old, dry, or collapsed well on your property? Call (512) 555-0148.
Do I have to plug an old well I am not using?
In Texas, an open, unused well is the owner's responsibility, and the state rules require a deteriorated or abandoned well to be plugged by a licensed driller or pump installer. An uncapped old well is both a safety hazard and a direct path for surface contamination to reach the aquifer everyone around you drinks from. If you have a dead well on the property, plugging it correctly is not optional, it is the law and it protects the groundwater.
What does plugging a well actually involve?
It is not just dropping a cap on top. A well is plugged by filling it with cement or bentonite grout from the bottom up, so the sealed borehole can no longer carry surface water or contamination down into the aquifer. The material and the method follow the state and district rules for the depth and type of well. We plug it correctly, and we file the plugging report so there is a record that the well was sealed the right way.
I found an old well when I bought the property. What now?
This is common on older Central Texas land, where a first well was drilled, then replaced, and the original left open. Call before you build over it or forget it. We check whether it can be reused, and if not, we plug it to code and document it. An unknown open well under a future slab or pasture is a liability you do not want to inherit or pass on at your own resale.
Can a bad well be plugged and a new one drilled?
Yes, and that is often the right sequence. When a well is collapsed, dry, or too contaminated to fix, we plug the old one to seal the aquifer and drill a new well in a compliant location on the same property. Plugging the dead well is part of doing the new one properly, because leaving the old hole open next to a fresh well undoes the protection the new casing provides.
Do you file the paperwork with the district?
Yes. A plugging is only complete when it is recorded. We plug the well to the state and Central Texas Groundwater Conservation District rules and file the required plugging report, so there is a documented record that the well was sealed properly. That record matters at resale and it keeps the responsibility from following you after the work is done.