4.1 The process of operating any engineered system, such as monitoring wells, includes active maintenance to prevent, mitigate, or reverse deterioration. Lack of or improper maintenance can lead to well performance deficiencies (physical problems) or sample quality degradation (chemical problems). These problems are intrinsic to monitoring wells, which are often left idle for long periods of time (as long as a year), installed in non-aquifer materials, and installed to evaluate contamination that can cause locally anomalous hydrogeochemical conditions. The typical solutions for these physical and chemical problems that would be applied by owners and operators of water supply, dewatering, recharge, and other wells may not be appropriate for monitoring wells because of the need to minimize their impact on the conditions that monitoring wells were installed to evaluate.

4.2 This guide covers actions and procedures, but is not an encyclopedic guide to well maintenance. Well maintenance planning and execution is highly site and well specific.

4.3 The design of maintenance and rehabilitation programs and the identification of the need for rehabilitation should be based on objective observation and testing, and by individuals knowledgeable and experienced in well maintenance and rehabilitation. Users of this guide are encouraged to consult the references provided.

4.4 For additional information see Test Methods D4412, D5472, D7726 and Guides D4448, D5254, D5521, D5409, D5410 and D5474.

Note 1: The quality of the result produced by this standard is dependent on the competence of the personnel performing it, and the suitability of the equipment and facilities used. Agencies that meet the criteria of Practice D3740 are generally considered capable of competent and objective testing/sampling/inspection/etc. Users of this standard are cautioned that compliance with Practice D3740 does not in itself assure reliable results. Reliable results depend on many factors; Practice D3740 provides a means of evaluating some of those factors.

Practice D3740 was developed for agencies engaged in the testing and/or inspection of soils and rock. As such, it is not totally applicable to agencies performing this practice. However, user of this practice should recognize that the framework of Practice D3740 is appropriate for evaluating the quality of an agency performing this practice. Currently there is no known qualifying national authority that inspects agencies that perform this practice.

1.1 This guide covers an approach to selecting and implementing a well maintenance and rehabilitation program for groundwater monitoring wells. It provides information on symptoms of problems or deficiencies that indicate the need for maintenance and rehabilitation. It is limited to monitoring wells, that are designed and operated to provide access to, representative water samples from, and information about the hydraulic properties of the saturated subsurface while minimizing impact on the monitored zone. Some methods described herein may apply to other types of wells although the range of maintenance and rehabilitation treatment methods suitable for monitoring wells is more restricted than for other types of wells. Monitoring wells include their associated pumps and surface equipment.

1.2 This guide is affected by governmental regulations and by site specific geological, hydrogeological, geochemical, climatological, and biological conditions.

1.3 Units—The values stated in either inch-pound units or SI units presented in brackets are to be regarded separately as standard. The values stated in each system may not be exact equivalents; therefore, each system shall be used independently of the other. Combining values from the two systems may result in non-conformance with the standard.

1.4 All observed and calculated values shall conform to the guidelines for significant digits and rounding established in Practice D 6026, unless superseded by this standard.

1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

1.6 This guide offers an organized collection of information or a series of options and does not recommend a specific course of action. This document cannot replace education or experience and should be used in conjunction with professional judgment. Not all aspects of this guide may be applicable in all circumstances. This ASTM standard is not intended to represent or replace the standard of care by which the adequacy of a given professional service must be judged, nor should this document be applied without consideration of a project's many unique aspects. The word “Standard” in the title of this document means only that the document has been approved through the ASTM consensus process.