How to Find a Buried Well Head on a Southern Oregon Property
Being contacted to find a buried well head is a common request on Rogue Valley properties. Many wells in Jackson and Josephine counties were drilled decades ago, and the casing was later covered during grading, landscaping, or a driveway pour. The well still works, the pump still runs, and no one can say where the casing actually is. That becomes a problem when you need to service the pump, meet a county setback, sell the property, or dig anywhere near it. Here is how we find it for you.
Why so many well heads end up buried
Older wells were often finished with the casing cut close to grade and a simple cap. Over the years, the ground around the well gets built up: fill for a new lawn, gravel for a parking area, a patio, or a few inches of topsoil every season. On properties that have changed hands several times, the well may have been left out of the sale paperwork altogether. Modern code calls for the casing to stand above finished grade, so a buried head is also a point an inspector or the county will want corrected.
How we locate the well head and the well line
Our job is to find the casing and the line that runs from it to the house, and to mark both on the ground so you can dig in the right place once.
We use our equipment to locate the casing, the well line, and the pump wiring from the surface, so there is no guesswork and no exploratory digging. Rogue Valley soil goes from clay to river cobble within a short distance, and we will tell you when conditions limit what we can see.
We mark the well head location and the well line in the standard APWA colors, so the marks read the same as 811's. We are able to give depth estimates when requested at the time of service or during scheduling. For a county correction, a sale, or your own records, we can provide a sketch or a GPS/RTK file of the findings (when selected at time of service).
When to locate the well before you dig
Before servicing or replacing a pump when no one knows where the casing is
Before a sale, when the inspector or the buyer's lender asks for the well location and setbacks
Before any excavation on the property, since striking a well line or casing usually means an immediate repair
Before raising the casing to meet current code
Before adding a shop, fence, or driveway in the general area of the well
Scheduling a well locate in the Rogue Valley
Our Southern Oregon office covers Medford, Ashland, Talent, Phoenix, Central Point, Jacksonville, Grants Pass, Rogue River, and south to Yreka. Send us the address, what you know about the well, and a copy of the well log if you have it, and we will schedule a time.
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