Well Drilling and New Wells Around Duluth, MN

When you are building a home that will not be on municipal water, when an existing well has failed, or when a lot is still outside the city system and needs a new potable well.

• An on-site look at the property, and at any existing well, before any drilling work is agreed.
• A clear explanation of the next steps, including Minnesota's well construction rules and the water tests required on a new potable well.
• Construction of the agreed well once you have agreed the scope with the provider.

This site does not publish prices. Any price, quote, or appointment comes from the provider, on their own terms, after they have seen the property.

New potable wells in Minnesota must be built to the state well code: Minnesota Rules, chapter 4725, and Minnesota Statutes, chapter 103I, administered by the Minnesota Department of Health. This page is a general explanation, not legal advice. For the official text, use MDH's well construction and sealing rules and the rule itself at Minn. R. 4725.5650.

Minn. R. 4725.5650 requires a sample from a newly constructed potable well within 30 days, and before human use, for total coliform bacteria, nitrate-nitrogen, and arsenic. The results go to the owner and to MDH. If you are planning a new well, build that testing into the timeline. Do not start using the well for drinking before those results are in.

The well water testing page covers what MDH recommends after that first round, including yearly tests for bacteria and nitrate, and at least one arsenic test.

The City of Duluth delivers treated Lake Superior water through more than 400 miles of pipe to more than 30,000 customers a year, and it also supplies Hermantown, Proctor, and Rice Lake at wholesale. A new well is a more likely need where that system does not reach: unserved parts of Hermantown (the municipal system is still expanding), properties in Rice Lake that have to ask City Hall whether city water is available, the edges of Proctor, or a Duluth lot a city line does not reach.

If the lot can connect to city water, ask the utility first, before anyone plans a well.

A town or address, and whether this is a new house or a well that has already failed, is enough to start. If you have a lot size, a site plan, or any past well records, include them. Official well records can be checked in the Minnesota Well Index. If you already have a water test from an older well on the same property, include it. The professional can use it as a starting point. It still does not replace the required tests on a new potable well.