It's a New Drill for Well Contractors as Law Takes Effect

As of January 1, any driller that wants to dig wells in North Carolina must take a competency test and be certified.

Of the 16,000 water wells drilled in North Carolina each year, a number have problems that are expensive to fix.

Angela Jones wishes the law was in effect four months ago when her well was drilled. The well actually drew concrete into her system. The original driller refused to help replace it.

"There definitely needs to be responsibility put on these people, because this is environmental health," she says.

For the next three months the state will spot-check a number of job sites to make sure drillers are carrying their certification cards.

Drillers caught without a certification card could be fined and be prohibited from working.

"This basically gives us the ability to take away a guy's livelihood if he's improperly constructing wells. So this is teeth we never had," says groundwater director Arthur Mouberry.

One driller tells WRAL he believes the certification requirement has a downside. He says it could reduce the number of drillers doing business and in turn raise the price of getting a well.

The state is making it easy for customers to find certified well drillers with anonline database. You can also call theN.C.Groundwater Sectionat919-733-3221.

The state also suggests calling theBetter Business Bureauand getting a written contract.