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The National Ground Water Association is a private nonprofit organization representing the professionals involved in the groundwater industry: scientists and engineers, water well drilling contractors and pump installers, and equipment manufacturers and suppliers. Our membership includes the highest caliber researchers and practitioners in these fields, who regularly lend their expertise to the furtherance of their profession and to the benefit of the groundwater resource.

The Association provides information and education on a wide range of groundwater industry issues through its scientific conferences, professional education programs, publications, certification programs, consumer outreach, and government affairs activities.

When reporting on water well construction...

Wells are drilled. Holes are dug.​

When reporting your story, unless you are reporting on a water well actually dug with a shovel, wells are typically constructed using advanced and expensive construction equipment technology to drill the borehole and to equip it as a well.

It’s going to be more correct in nearly every instance to report “well drilling” rather than "well digging." Contractors who build wells are "groundwater contractors" or "water well drillers" rather than "well diggers."

Water well defined.

A water well is any test hole or other excavation into the Earth that is drilled, cored, bored, washed, fractured, driven, dug, jetted, or otherwise constructed when intended use of such excavation is for the location, monitoring, dewatering, observation, diversification, artificial recharge, or acquisition of groundwater or for conducting pumping equipment or aquifer tests. It may be open (uncased and unscreened) or a portion may be cased or screened.