{"id":4057,"date":"2026-07-23T15:33:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T19:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/?page_id=4057"},"modified":"2026-07-23T15:34:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T19:34:38","slug":"responding-to-emergencies-affecting-your-private-well","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/responding-to-emergencies-affecting-your-private-well\/","title":{"rendered":"Responding to Emergencies Affecting Your Private Well"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>2026 DROUGHT IMPACTS ON PRIVATE WELLS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)\u00a0monitors\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.deq.virginia.gov\/water\/water-quantity\/drought\">drought conditions<\/a> in the Commonwealth. For the assessment period ending July 7, 2026, DEQ reported that 66.21% of the state is characterized as being in a severe or worse drought condition.\u00a0 Groundwater levels are at emergency status for nearly 70% of Virginia.\u00a0 These conditions can have significant impacts on private wells.\u00a0 Private well repair and replacement data indicates a moderate increase in the number of failing private wells across the Commonwealth.<\/p>\n<p>In response to these drought conditions, the Virginia Department of Health recommends private well owners to discontinued non-essential water uses in areas of a declared drought warning or emergency.\u00a0 Non-essential water uses include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Unrestricted irrigation of lawns.<\/li>\n<li>Unrestricted irrigation of golf courses.<\/li>\n<li>Unrestricted irrigation of athletic fields.<\/li>\n<li>Washing paved surfaces.<\/li>\n<li>Washing or cleaning of automobiles, trucks, trailers, and boats.<\/li>\n<li>Use of water for operation of ornamental uses (e.g. fountains).<\/li>\n<li>Use of water to fill and top off outdoor swimming pools.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"TextRun SCXW229913626 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"none\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW229913626 BCX8\" data-ccp-parastyle=\"Normal (Web)\">If your well is impacted by drought and begins to run dry please contact a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/onsite-sewage-water-services-updated\/septic-system-and-private-well-service-providers\/\">licensed professional<\/a>, do not make your own adjustment to well pumps.<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW229913626 BCX8\" data-ccp-parastyle=\"Normal (Web)\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><strong><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW229913626 BCX8\" data-ccp-parastyle=\"Normal (Web)\">There are significant injury hazards, including electrical shock and\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW229913626 BCX8\" data-ccp-parastyle=\"Normal (Web)\">loss<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW229913626 BCX8\" data-ccp-parastyle=\"Normal (Web)\"> of limbs, when making adjustments to private wells.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><span class=\"EOP SCXW229913626 BCX8\" data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;335557856&quot;:16777215}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>If you are an individual homeowner and are experience issues with your private water system, you can express your interest or need in financial assistance by filling out a <a href=\"https:\/\/forms.cloud.microsoft\/pages\/responsepage.aspx?id=qeUKYsFOoE-GQV2fOGxzCVYE68UqIThHu1eDfTwDI9ZURVBUREIwQVY4VjIyNElUWjdPWk1WMERaVi4u&amp;route=shorturl\">Homeowner SWAP Interest Form<\/a>.\u00a0 Please note, submission of an interest form is not an application for funding and does not guarantee future funding for your project.<\/p>\n<p><strong>GENERAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Events such as hurricanes or other major storms, flooding, and earthquakes \u2013 even lightning strikes \u2013 can render water supply from private wells unfit for use as a drinking water source.\u00a0 Frequently these effects are short-term and can be handled using the procedures identified in the attached links.\u00a0 In extreme cases, the effects may be permanent and well, or onsite septic system, repair or replacement will be warranted.<\/p>\n<p>Always remember that it is your and your family\u2019s health which will be placed at risk if a disaster adversely affects your well.\u00a0 VDH urges you to adopt the \u201cPlan-Check-Act\u201d approach.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0PLAN<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Plan ahead by:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Maintaining a supply of bottled drinking water sufficient to last your family for three days. One gallon per person per day is suggested for drinking and hygiene purposes.\u00a0 (see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ready.gov\">ready.gov<\/a> for additional information for preparation of a basic emergency kit).<\/li>\n<li>Maintain a list of contact information (VDH, Water Well and Septic professionals, treatment system providers).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0CHECK<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If disaster strikes, check the well and the water supply prior to use.\u00a0 This means visually inspect the well and, at a minimum, observe the water for cloudiness and\/or odor.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0ACT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Take appropriate actions (boil water, flush system, conduct repairs, etc.)<\/p>\n<p>The following links provide detailed check-act instructions for specific events<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2017\/03\/Hurricance-Response.pdf\">Hurricance Response<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2017\/03\/Earthquake-Response.pdf\">Earthquake Response<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2026 DROUGHT IMPACTS ON PRIVATE WELLS The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)\u00a0monitors\u00a0drought conditions in the Commonwealth. For the assessment period ending July 7, 2026, DEQ reported that 66.21% of the state is characterized as being in a severe or worse drought condition.\u00a0 Groundwater levels are at emergency status for nearly 70% of Virginia.\u00a0 These conditions [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4057","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Responding to Emergencies Affecting Your Private Well - Environmental Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/responding-to-emergencies-affecting-your-private-well\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Responding to Emergencies Affecting Your Private Well - Environmental Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"2026 DROUGHT IMPACTS ON PRIVATE WELLS The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)\u00a0monitors\u00a0drought conditions in the Commonwealth. 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