# Virginia's private well rules: what changed for well owners

> Virginia now requires a written VDH permit to build, alter, deepen or abandon a private well. What changed for Suffolk owners and what needs no permit.

URL: https://wellbornesuffolkwellpumprepair.com/blog/virginia-private-well-rules-what-changed/

News

Since November 6, 2024, abandoning or deepening a well needs the same written permit as building one. Pump work still does not.

Virginia’s private well regulations were amended effective November 6, 2024. For most owners, day-to-day pump and tank work is unaffected. The changes matter most if you are building, deepening, altering or sealing a well. [Wellborne](https://wellbornesuffolkwellpumprepair.com/) summarizes what the regulation now says.

## A written permit for construction, alteration, deepening and abandonment

The current rule says that no person shall construct, alter, abandon or increase the depth of a private well without a written construction permit from the Virginia Department of Health. Conditions may be attached to the permit, and the work must follow them.

For owners, that means:

- **[Sealing an old well](https://wellbornesuffolkwellpumprepair.com/well-abandonment/)** needs a permit, just as drilling a new one does.
- **Deepening a well** needs a permit.
- **Other alterations** to the well itself need a permit.

Permits are valid for 18 months, with one 18-month renewal.

## What still needs no well permit

The same section is explicit that some common work is not a well alteration:

- **Replacing a well pump.**
- **Replacing a well seal or cap with an equivalent one.**
- **Extending the well casing vertically above the ground surface.**

So a pump replacement, a new cap, or raising a casing that ends too close to the ground does not need a VDH permit. The [permit guide](https://wellbornesuffolkwellpumprepair.com/guide/well-pump-permit-virginia/) sets out which jobs do and do not.

## Fees

The VDH fee schedule lists $300 for a private well construction or abandonment permit. The fee regulation also sets out waivers:

- **No fee to abandon a well on the owner’s principal place of residence.**
- **A full refund of a replacement well’s fee** once a completion report shows the old well has been permanently and properly abandoned.
- **Waivers for owners at or below the federal poverty guidelines.**

## Disinfection, setbacks and abandonment methods

The amended regulation also sets out, among other things, the disinfection required before a well is placed in service (100 mg/L of chlorine for 24 hours, or an equivalent of at least 1,000 contact units), the separation distances between wells and septic systems, sewer lines and buildings, and the methods and prohibited materials for sealing a well. Rubble such as brick or broken concrete, and flowable fill made with fly ash, cannot be used to fill a well.

## Who does the work

Well construction, repair and abandonment in Virginia are done by water well systems providers certified through DPOR at trainee, journeyman or master level. The provider is required to give the health department advance notice before well construction or abandonment so staff can observe if they choose.

## What it means for Suffolk owners

If you have an old dug or bored well on your property that is no longer used, it is now clearly a permitted job to seal it, and at your own home there is no permit fee. If a well is being replaced, the old one is usually sealed as a condition of the new well’s permit. Day-to-day repairs to [pumps](https://wellbornesuffolkwellpumprepair.com/well-pump-replacement/), [tanks](https://wellbornesuffolkwellpumprepair.com/pressure-tank-replacement/) and controls carry on as before.

For questions about a specific well, call [(757) 919-1972](tel:+17579191972).

Related service

[Well abandonment](https://wellbornesuffolkwellpumprepair.com/well-abandonment/)