For information contact:
Region 1
Ground Water Man;
ement Section
Ground water Management bectio
John F. Kennedy Federal Building
One Congress Street
Boston, MA 02203 (617) 565-3615
Region 2
Underground Injection Control Section
26 Federal Plaza, Room 853
New York, NY 10278 (212)264-1547
Region 3
Underground Injection Control Section
841 Chestnut Building (3WM43)
Philadelphia, PA 1910 (215)597-9928
Region 4
Underground Injection Control Section
(GWP-3)
345 Courtland Street N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30365 (404) 347-3379
Region 5
Underground Injection Control Section
(WD-17J)
77 W. Jackson Street
Chicago, IL 60604 (312) 886-1492
Region 6
Underground Injection Control Program
(6W-SE)
1445 Ross Avenue
Dallas, TX 75202-2733 (214)655-7160 or
(214)655-7165
Region 7
Underground Injection Control Section
726 Minnesota Avenue
Kansas City, KS 66101 (913) 551-7369
Region 8
UIC Program/Enforcement Section
(8WM-DW)
99918ih Street - Suite 500
Denver, CO 80202-2466 (303)293-1413
Region 9
Source Water Protection Section (W-6-2)
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA 94105 (415) 744-1838
Region 10
Ground Water Section (WD-133)
1200 Sixth Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101 (206) 553-1369
United States EPA 813-F-94-005
Environmental Protection July 1994
Agency
Office of Water (4602)
Class V Injection
Wells and Your
Drinking Water
SEPA
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:ore than 89 percent of U.S. public
water supply systems draw some
or all of their drinking water from
sources found underground in rock,
sand, and gravel. Ground water also
feeds rivers, lakes, and streams used for
drinking water. Ground water has no
respect for state boundaries. It contin-
ually moves, sometimes recharging
surface waters hundreds of miles away
from where it started.
Most ground water used for drinking is
located near the earth's surface and is
easily contaminated. Of major concern
is the potential contamination of under-
ground sources of drinking water
(USDW) by any of the hundreds of
thousands of injection wells nationwide.
Injection wells dispose of approximately
11 percent of the nation's fluid waste.
The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is working in partnership
with state and local governments to
prevent injection wells from contamin-
ating your drinking water resources.
You can help by learning about EPA's
Underground Injection Control (UIC)
program so that you can identify in-
jection wells in your community that
may contaminate your drinking water.
Basically, injection wells are man-made
or improved "holes" in the ground,
which are deeper than their widest sur-
face dimension and are used to dis-
charge or dispose of fluids under-
ground. When properly sited, construc-
ted, and operated, injection wells can be
an effective and environmentally safe
means of fluid waste disposal. There are
many different types of injection wells,
but they are all similar in their basic
function.
What is A Class V Well?
Most Class V wells are "low tech" holes
in the ground, although a few are tech-
nologically advanced wastewater dispos-
al systems used by industry. Generally,
Class V wells are shallow and rely on
gravity to drain or "inject" liquid waste
into the ground. Examples of Class V
wells include dry wells that collect
surface water runoff and industrial,
commercial, and utility disposal wells.
A Class V well's potential to endanger a
nearby ground water resource depends
largely on the type and/or quantity of
waste fluid it injects.
Under the UIC program, EPA and
the states regulate more than
400,000 injection wells. Class V
wells comprise 50 percent of the
injection wells in the U.S.
Class V wells may be found almost any-
where people are. But in general, they
are located in rural and/or unsewered
areas where people depend on ground
water for their drinking water. Their
simple construction provides little or no
protection against possible ground
water contamination, so it is important
to control what goes into them. Shallow
injection of wastewater from industrial
and manufacturing processes can cause
significant problems. For example,
industrial chemicals such as solvents
may be washed down sinks, or service
station wastes such as oil may be
flushed into service bay floor drains.
These wastes can endanger drinking
water sources, especially if the disposal
well is a septic system. Chemicals
disposed of in a septic system designed
to treat sanitary waste can cause the
system to malfunction and contaminate
ground water.
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How Does the EPA
Protect Drinking Water
from Class V Wells?
Class V wells are regulated by federal,
state, and local officials. EPA requires
all Class V owners and operators to
submit inventory information. In addi-
tion EPA regulations prohibit Class V
operators from endangering under-
ground drinking water sources.
How Do I Know if I
Have a Class V Well?
If your workplace generates waste
fluids and is not connected to a munici-
pal sewer, find out where your liquid
wastes go. If they go into an on-site
septic system, dry well, or drainage
hole, you have a Class V disposal well
which may endanger your drinking
water supply.
What Do I Do if I Have
a Class V Well?
If you believe you have a Class V well,
contact your local health officials or the
EPA Regional Office covering your
state. Even if you do not have a Class V
well, you can contact these authorities
to learn more about their programs, or
to report any well that you think may be
causing problems.
If you have a Class V well, make sure
you comply with inventory require-
ments. If you do not report your Class V
well to the appropriate UIC program
director, or if your well endangers
drinking water sources, you may be
fined.
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How Can You Get More
Information?
For more information regarding
underground injection at the U.S. EPA
Regional level, contact your EPA
regional office.
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