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Drilled vs Dug vs Sand Point Wells in Ontario: How Each Is Built, What Each Costs, How Each Gets Contaminated, and Why New Houses Get a Drilled Well
Plumbing & Water
Drilled, Dug or Sand Point: Three Ways to Rent Water From the Ground
A well is a hole full of water you rent from the ground. How deep the hole goes, and how well it is sealed from the surface, decides how much water you get, how clean it stays and what it costs. Walk a rural road in Simcoe County and you can find all three kinds, from a 1940s dug well with a concrete lid to a new drilled well with a steel cap sticking out of the lawn. This page compares them honestly and explains why most new rural houses get a drilled one.
The numbers
$45 to $120per foot, drilled well, casing in most quotes
$2,600 to $7,200pump, tank and fittings on top, our estimate
30 mleaching bed to a well without a deep watertight casing
$1,500 to $4,000plugging and sealing an old well
| Kind of well | How it is built | Licence class | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drilled | a drill rig bores down, often into rock; steel casing, sealed with grout around the outside | Class 1 drilling | $45 to $120 a foot |
| Dug or bored | a wide, shallow hole lined with concrete tiles or stone | Class 2 digging and boring | from a few thousand dollars |
| Shallow well, generally | dug, bored or driven, into the upper water | Class 2 or 3 | $3,000 to $7,000 |
| Sand point (driven) | a pipe with a screened point driven into sand, usually near a lake | Class 3 other methods | quoted per job |
| Pump, tank and fittings for a new well | pump, tank, pitless adapter, electrical, controls | Class 4 pump installation | $2,600 to $7,200, our estimate |
| Plugging and sealing an old well | abandonment under Reg. 903 | licensed contractor recommended | $1,500 to $4,000 |
October 2026, before HST. Drilled well per foot from an Ottawa-area well company, a Canadian cost guide, Cottage Life and a well-locating company; the full drilling breakdown by depth is on the well drilling cost page. Dug well from Cottage Life; shallow well from a national marketplace; decommissioning from one Canadian cost guide only. We found no published sand point price, so we do not show one: it depends on how deep the sand is, whether the point drives or hits stone, and the pump that goes with it.
Why Ontario prices are all over the map: the well companies and guides we checked for this page quoted very different prices for a drilled well. An Ottawa-area well company, a Canadian cost guide, Cottage Life and a well-locating company ranged from $45 to $120 a foot. A national marketplace printed both $10,000 to $15,000 and $15,000 to $30,000 for an Ontario well on the same page. The driller we use around Georgian Bay charges $15,000 for any well up to 75 ft (pump not included), and more past that. Depth, rock, casing length and minimum charges explain most of it. Budget $80 a foot or the driller minimum, whichever is more, and get two or three quotes on the same written scope.
Why Most New Rural Houses Get a Drilled Well
A drilled well goes down past the shallow water that soaks in from the surface, into a deeper water-bearing layer, often in rock. The steel casing and the grout seal around it keep surface water from running straight down the outside of the pipe. That depth and that seal are the whole point. It is also why the septic rules let a leaching bed sit closer to a well with a watertight casing at least 6 m deep.
A dug well is the opposite. It is wide and shallow, it holds a lot of water in the hole itself, and it draws from the upper water that rain and snowmelt recharge quickly. That is fine until a dry August, when the water table drops and the dug well drops with it. The joints in the concrete tiles and the old lid are where surface water, a mouse or a frog gets in. There is a reason the bacteria test comes back bad more often from dug wells.
A sand point is the cottage special: a pipe with a screen on the end, driven into the sand near the shore, with a jet pump on top. Cheap to put in where it works, and it often works well for years. But it draws shallow water close to the surface, and close to whatever is near the surface, including your septic bed and your neighbour’s.
How Each One Gets Contaminated
- Drilled: a damaged or buried well cap, a casing cut off below grade, a cracked grout seal, or a casing that ends too high to keep surface water out. The weak spot is the top.
- Dug: surface water running through the tile joints, a loose lid, low ground around the well that ponds after rain, and animals. The weak spot is everything.
- Sand point: the shallow water itself, especially near a septic bed, a road, a barnyard or a busy shoreline. The weak spot is the neighbourhood.
Any of the three should be tested for bacteria at least three times a year, including spring and fall. The free test and how to read it are on the well water testing page. A drilled well is not a guarantee of clean water; it is a better starting point.
The Septic Clearances
On a rural lot the well and the septic system have to share the property, and the Building Code sets how far apart they sit. These are the numbers as printed on municipal permit forms from the Part 8 tables:
| From | To | Minimum |
|---|---|---|
| Septic tank (treatment unit) | a well | 15 m |
| Leaching bed | a well with a watertight casing to at least 6 m deep | 15 m |
| Leaching bed | any other well (dug, sand point, shallow casing) | 30 m |
| Leaching bed | a lake or stream | 15 m |
On a narrow lot, that 30 m to a dug well or sand point is often what decides it: you cannot fit both, so the new house gets a drilled well and the old shallow one gets plugged. The septic systems guide covers the bed itself, and SepticReplacement.ca deals with septic systems that need replacing.
One Lot, Added Up: New Drilled Well, Old Dug Well Plugged
Say a rural lot has an old dug well too close to where the new septic bed has to go. The new well is 150 ft at our $80 default, the equipment is our default package, and the trench and line from well to house fall in the 100 to 250 ft allowance band.
| Line | Basis | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Drilled well, 150 ft | 150 x $80 | $12,000 |
| Pump, tank, pitless, electrical, controls | our estimate, default | $4,500 |
| Trench and water line, 100 to 250 ft | allowance | $5,500 |
| Plug and seal the old dug well | middle of range | $3,000 |
| Total | $25,000 | |
| Nottawasaga Valley CA grant, if you qualify | 75% of $3,000 is $2,250, capped at $1,000 | -$1,000 |
| Net, if you qualify | $24,000 |
Before HST, the water test and any treatment. The grant is only money if you qualify and apply before you book; check with your own conservation authority. The full grant list and the rules for plugging a well are on the well regulations page.
The old dug well cannot just be left. A well that is not in use and not maintained for future use has to be plugged and sealed, and ontario.ca recommends a licensed contractor because the work is dangerous. And for the last time on this page: nobody climbs into a dug well. Gases and low oxygen in those holes kill people every year.
- Look at the neighbours’ well records first. They tell you roughly how deep you will drill; how to find them is on the checking for water on a lot page.
- Site the well and the septic bed together, on the same drawing, before anyone digs either.
- Budget for the dry hole. You pay for the drilling whether it finds water or not.
On our own builds, wells are drilled by licensed well contractors we hire, and the trench to the house is site work; on Georgian Bay lots GeorgianBaySiteworks.ca covers that side.
Questions people ask
Is a drilled well better than a dug well?
For a new house, usually yes. It is deeper, cased and sealed against surface water, and it holds up better in a dry summer. A dug well can work for years, but it is more likely to fail a bacteria test and more likely to go low in August.
How much does a dug well cost compared with a drilled well?
Cottage Life puts a dug well at as little as a few thousand dollars, and a national marketplace puts shallow wells at $3,000 to $7,000. A drilled well runs $45 to $120 a foot in the guides we checked, and the driller we use around Georgian Bay charges $15,000 for any well up to 75 ft (pump not included); add $2,600 to $7,200 for the pump and tank, our estimate. October 2026, before HST.
How far does a well have to be from a septic system?
The tank 15 m from a well. The leaching bed 15 m from a well with a watertight casing at least 6 m deep, 30 m from any other well, and 15 m from a lake or stream.
Can I keep my old dug well for watering the garden?
Only if it is maintained for future use. A well that is not in use and not maintained, gives non-potable water or lets water move between layers has to be plugged and sealed. See the well regulations page.
What does a sand point cost?
We found no published Ontario price. It is quoted per job and depends on the depth to good sand, whether the point drives cleanly, and the pump. Ask for it in writing with the pump included.
Price your well and water system
The rural water system cost calculator takes the well depth and price per foot, the pump and tank, the trench band, the water test and the treatment, and gives low, middle and high totals. If you already have well quotes, the $99 review reads up to three of them side by side.
Sources and further reading
- Wells on your property: Ontario: the owner is responsible for the well, testing at least three times a year, and when a well record is required.
- Well technician licence: the five licence classes, from Class 1 drilling to Class 4 pump installation.
- Well abandonment: when to plug and seal a well: the owner duty to plug and seal an unused or unsafe well, and the record that has to be filed.
