Residential Well Drilling in West Allis is uncommon, and any contractor telling you otherwise is selling something. This is a built city on municipal water, and the private wells that remain here are a specific set: legacy residential systems on older parcels, irrigation wells serving institutional grounds, and unused wells sitting under properties that stopped needing them decades ago. Herr Well Drilling has worked Milwaukee County since 1964 and handles all three, running out from Dousman.
The condition that defines West Allis well work is abandonment. Thousands of properties across this city were built when private wells were standard, connected to municipal supply somewhere in the last century, and never had the original well properly sealed. A capped well is still a direct pathway from the surface into the groundwater, and it is a liability that surfaces at resale more often than owners expect. Sealing it is well drilling work in reverse, and it is regulated just as closely.
Beyond that, the active wells here cluster around irrigation and grounds use near Honey Creek and the larger institutional parcels, plus a small number of residential holdouts near the city’s edges.
Water Well Drilling and well services performed in West Allis:
This is the most frequent West Allis call we get. An owner discovers a well during a basement project, a title search, or a sale, and needs it dealt with correctly. Proper abandonment means filling the borehole with approved material from bottom to top, sealing it, and documenting the work to state specification. It protects the aquifer and it clears the issue off the property record permanently.
The wells still in use here are old, and their supporting equipment is older. Pressure tanks that lost their charge years ago, switches operating outside their range, and wiring that predates several code cycles are all common finds. We evaluate the full system rather than the single failed component, because on equipment this age the failure is usually a symptom, and honest well service and repair means saying so.
Any West Allis well remaining in service deserves regular testing, and the reason is site history. This city carries a long industrial past, and shallow groundwater in places reflects it. Sampling and certified laboratory analysis establish whether the water is fit for its intended use, and the answer determines whether the well should stay in service at all or move into well rehabilitation and development first.
Where a new well makes sense here, it is generally for grounds irrigation or supplemental supply on a larger property rather than for household drinking water, and the sizing borrows from our irrigation well drilling work. These projects involve permitting, careful attention to site history, and casing that seals through any compromised shallow formation. We confirm the well draws from a protected interval before it goes into service.
The company started with John Herr Sr. and a single rig. His son John Jr. and John’s wife Marcia incorporated it in 1969. Theresa Domres, their daughter, ran it as president for years alongside her husband Greg, who came up from the rig to vice president. Their four children, Nathan, Adam, DJ, and Kendel, own it today.
We hold Wisconsin DNR licensing and carry full insurance on every crew. On West Allis abandonment work in particular, the documentation we provide is what a title company, a buyer, or an inspector will eventually want to see, so we produce it properly the first time. Tight lots often call for directional drilling rather than open cutting a driveway or a walk.
Where an old well is worth returning to service, we scope the well repair and the testing together so nobody pays twice for the same trip.
Our routes include West Allis along with Greenfield, Wauwatosa, Milwaukee, West Milwaukee, New Berlin, and Hales Corners. The drive from Dousman runs about thirty five minutes on I-94. On the same parcels we handle commercial well pump installation in West Allis, and back at the shop we cover residential well drilling in Dousman.
Call 262-965-2986 to schedule an assessment. We will identify what is actually on the property, tell you plainly what it requires, and put pricing in writing. Where a new borehole is the right answer, we scope it as new well installation. Herr Well Drilling, Inc., Dousman, WI, serving West Allis and Milwaukee County since 1964.
A small number do, mainly on older parcels near the city’s edges. Most West Allis households are on municipal water, and the majority of well work here involves sealing wells no longer in use.
Have it evaluated and sealed. An unused West Allis well is an open conduit into the aquifer, and state rules require proper filling and sealing rather than capping.
It can. West Allis transactions increasingly surface unsealed wells during title work or inspection, and documented abandonment resolves the issue cleanly.
In many cases yes, subject to permitting and use classification. West Allis irrigation and grounds wells are permitted through the state and we coordinate that process.
Yes, before using it for anything. West Allis site history makes laboratory testing the only reliable way to determine whether an existing well is fit for its intended use.
It needs planning but is rarely prohibitive. We assess approach and clearance on every West Allis site before scheduling so the crew arrives with the right setup.
Most West Allis sealing jobs are completed in a single working day, with documentation following shortly after. Deeper or obstructed wells occasionally take longer.
Yes. Nearly all West Allis wells we work on were installed by someone else, often many decades ago, and we handle them regardless of origin.
We handle the full range of well work in West Allis — drilling, development, pumps, service, and repair.
Outside West Allis? We provide the same residential well drilling service across Southeast Wisconsin.
Herr Well Drilling runs West Allis, WI calls out of our shop at W295 Herr Road, Dousman, WI 53118.
Need a new well drilled, an existing system repaired, or an honest assessment of your property's water situation? We'll get back to you within 48 hours — free, no-obligation, no sales pressure.
