Water Well Permit Process and Procedures

The following process must be followed to install any water well in St. Joseph County, Indiana. Water wells include but are not limited to any potable well or non-potable well. Non-potable are all wells not used for drinking or culinary purposes and include but are not limited to irrigation wells, geothermal wells, monitoring wells, de-watering wells, waterscape wells, and fire suppression wells.

• Complete a well-permit application and submit it to the Department of Health with the well-application fee.
• Fees: A non-refundable permit fee must be paid when the application is submitted. The Department of Health accepts cash, money orders, cashier's checks, or business checks. The Department of Health does not accept personal checks.
• The application includes:
  • A drawing must be completed by a well-driller, licensed surveyor, professional engineer, professional geologist, soil scientist, or architect.
  • The drawing must include the location of the proposed well and distances to a number of items, including all septic systems, structures, property lines, and other items.
• The Department of Health will accept or reject a permit application, usually within five working days, and will notify the applicant by phone, fax, or mail as requested. If an approval is needed sooner than five days, the Department of Health will make every effort to accommodate a request for expedited approval.
• The well may be installed only after the Department of Health grants its approval and a well-permit is received. The permit must be onsite during the installation of the well.
• The well-driller must call the Department of Health at least (2) two hours prior to abandoning any well and provide an opportunity for a Department of Health inspector to be present while the well is being abandoned. The Department of Health will conduct a final inspection to make certain the well was installed according to state and county requirements.
• After installation of any drinking water well, the drinking water system must be disinfected by the well-driller using procedures provided by the Department of Health.
• After disinfection and thorough rinsing of the well, the property owner must have the well-sampled, and the results of the sampling must be submitted within 30 days after installation of the well. The Department of Health will contact the property owner if there are any water quality issues that arise.
• After the well has been installed and the Department of Health has received all reports from the driller and the results of the water test from the owner, the Department of Health will issue a well complete letter that includes a well-permit sticker to be placed on the north side of the well.

Office Hours for Payments of Permits

• Monday through Friday - 8:00 am to 4:00 pm