A new water well construction standard that does the job

While the ground water industry cannot seem to win the discourse over terms, it can set some standards:

After decades of ANSI/AWWA Standard A 100 ruling the roost, the National Ground Water Association (NGWA) is in the process of publishing a standard for water well construction and development, ANSI/NGWA Standards 01 to 07. Watch the NGWA web site (see our links) for news of a date.

A 100 is bass boat - NGWA 01-07 is a cabin cruiser. The standard is based on the 1998 version of the NGWA's Manual of Water Well Construction Standards that I had the privilege to edit. The 1998 edition was an update of the 1975 Manual, which was set up to be a well construction standard, but never was formalized as such for some reason. Both the 1970s and the current efforts involve multiple topical committees of seasoned veterans from all over the USA. I had the privilege of working on the well development and well disinfection sections.

NGWA 01-07 was developed in two stages, first developing Version 3 of the Manual of Water Well Construction Practices, then boiling this down into the tighter "sound bites" of a standard ("do this, do that"). The result is a specific yet flexible standard that covers the considerable range of practice.

When it is published (in 2012?), we urge you to use it and make sure your regulatory bodies have and use it. The work will improve the state of the art.