Questions and Answers
If you have a water well question you would like answered, please feel
free to email us at drillcat@gmail.com
Q: Can i Drill my own well on my land?
A: Check your state and local laws, most of the 50 states allows land owners and
land lease holders drill on there own land. If your drilling for money or on land that
is not owner or leased by you, then that changes things. Then you will need a
drilling license for drilling for profit. The funny thing is in many states you can drill
15,000 ft oil well with no licence at all or need a licenced driller. This is the golden
rule, He with the all the gold rules.
Q: How do i know when i hit water?
A: When drilling , use a well log sheet, this records what formations your drilling
through. Course sand, gravel, and cracks in rocks bare water. Clay formations do
not.
In hard formations you may not hit water in sand formations, but fractures in the
rock. The best way is while drill pipe in the hole, blow air through it instead of
drilling mud. Once water in bore hole is blown out, then any additional water blown
out is what the well is producing. If your in soft formations that may cave in using
this method, do not do this, because you would be in danger of loosing your drill
pipe. For complete info try our water well drilling and trouble shooting book.
Or email us.
Also here is a link to show all main aquifers in the USA,
http://water.usgs.gov/ogw/NatlAqCode-reflist.html
Q: We bought a house with a well already, and the water smells like rotten
eggs. What do we do?
A: Sounds like sulphur in your water. Sulphur in your water in most cases will not
hurt you. The smell is over powering sometimes and not pleasant to smell.. Before
drinking water you can draw water in open containers or pitchers and let set out on
counter tops. After a short while the sulphur gas will leave, and water will be fine to
drink with no smell.. If you drill another well you will have to drill shallow or
deeper, buy stay out of the formation your in now. They do sell water systems to fix
these things, but it is not cheap. My suggestion is buy water system for this. If you
drill another well,you still may hit sulphur water and then your our the cost of
another well, plus still have to buy a water system too.
Q: I drilled a water well, and finished it. But how do i know if our water is
safe to drink?
A: Once your water well is complete you can treat bore hole with chlorine ( 4 to 10
oz of clorox) and kill any bacteria in water. Do not leave chlorine set long, because
chlorine can damage and corrode your well pump. After treatment only let it set a
few minutes, then run pump. After a few hours of use, the chlorine will be gone, and
also the taste. You can take a water sample and bring it to your county agent or
some colleges test your water. Make sure the container you use to take sample
with is not dirty. If you have sulphur or iron water you can smell and taste these
problems. Smaller amounts of minerals add taste and do not hurt you.
Q: What does it cost to drill a water well ?
A: Prices vary state to state. If you have to drill deep or drill hard rock, the price is
higher. Average price for soft formation water well 300ft is 8k to 15k depending
on where you live. In California water wells can cost 100.00 per ft, so a 200 ft
well is 20k. California has more permits and government regulations, this always
runs the price up. If you have shallow water or soft formations, it may be worth
your wild to check into DIY drilling or coop a group and several people go in
together and buy a drilling rig. If you only have one well to drill, just hire it done.
But remember, in all 50 states, well drillers by law are not required to hit
water and do not guarantee hitting water. The only guarantee you get is they
will cash your check before the sun goes down. This is the sad part about hiring a
drill contractor. You pay up front , and still may not have a water well at the end.
But on the flip side, the drilling contractor did not pick your land out either! What
ever water underground water resources you have , is what you have. No one But
God can change that.
Q: I have just bought 80 acres with road frontage, and want to sell lots with
water wells on them. How close can water wells be to each other.
A: Check your local county and state laws for this answer. Most states require
water wells be 50ft or more from property line and 100ft or more from sewer
systems. The larger the lots the easier this is to do. 1 acres lots or larger will make
this easy to do. When you apply for well permit, the permit rules should be plain to
read then. Water wells should be 200ft or more from other water wells. When
pumping a water well you do have draw down, so 200ft or more will help this out.
Q: We need a water well for a log home we are building. What GPM out
water well will i need?
A: Most home use water wells are 4" casing wells. Older wells drilled in the
80s some people have used 2" casing water wells. A 4" water well with GPM of 7
or more is acceptable. If your going to have a large garden or Pond to fill or Cattle
in summer drinking, you may need more. I many areas 10 to 15 gmp wells are the
standard. If you have a smaller output well, you can add a large storage tank to
help. Once your well is drilled, you can check the GMP out put of water well.
When blowing the well, Have a watch with second hand. Use 5 gallon bucket and
watch. After 15 seconds check bucket to see how much water is there. Times x 4
will give you the GPM it is making. Our DIY books covers blowing the well.
Q: I need 4 irrigation wells for our farm land we bought, but were quoted a
massive 40k for each well, and water is only 200ft down .
A: Any time you need irrigation wells, the price changes. Irrigation wells usually cast
2 to 3 times the cost of a standard home well. If you really need 4 wells, i would
suggest you buy a new or used rig, get drill training, and save yourself 120k or
more. For this kind of money savings , it leaves you plenty of room for practicing.
For irrigation wells you will need a better rig with 2 3/8" drill pipe or larger and high
flow mud pump and good swivel. Do your homework and forget any cheap toy rig
for this job. Even used rigs for this type of drilling job will start at 20k and up. But
once your finished with your Irrigation wells, and saved all this money, you still have
a drilling rig you may sell, or keep it around to service wells or drill more later.
Q: How deep should i drill my well?
A: If you drill your own water well, i would suggest reading your well log while
drilling and stop when you hit a good water bearing formation. If you have a drilling
contractor do it, they charge by the foot, so don't expect a shallow well. Shallow
wells do not pay motor home payments , deep wells do. One good way is to check
with well depths near your location.
Q: I want that Goooooood water, do i have to go deep to get it?
A: That is what drilling contractors love to hear. Prices are by the foot. So drilling
deeper is like them filling out the check for you.
Shallow water is softer and sweeter, unless your in a rare toxic zone ,near a junk
yard or cattle feed lot. Remember water is the world greatest dissolver. And
Gravity pulls everything down, water included. So the deeper the water, the more
possible lime, Iron, magnesium, salt, sulfur etc it passes over. There are exceptions
and problem areas, but deeper is not always better. The biggest problem is One
guys friend has a 200ft well, so he wants a 300ft well to have bragging rights. If you
drill a 500ft hole in non bearing water formation clay, you have no water. Just
drilling a hole at any depth does not mean you have water. Thats why you read the
cuttings washing up to see what formation you in while drilling.
Q: If i buy a small ( toy) rig, can i drill rock?
A: Drilling rock will require very good swivel, and drill pipe. When you read Drilling
rig adds, beware of power words ( out right lies) describing there toy rigs in such a
way it looks bigger than it really is.
Most toy rigs do not have real drill pipe, they only use China plumbing pipe with
standard NPT threads. Real tool joint drill pipe cost more that total price of toy rig
set up . I would Only buy a toy rig if you have no rock at all and soft, soft sand.
Plus these are labor demanding. Have a Big BBQ so you will have enough buddies
to help. There are portable water well drilling rigs trailer mounted that are not
toy. In fact we do sell many refurbished used rigs that are work ready. Checkout
our used inventory .
Q: We have a problem with sand in our well water? What can we do?
A: Every well is different , some formations have no sand, some do. When drilling a
well, mistakes can cause this problem. Here are some below.
1. Not correctly matching screen slot size to sand formations on well screen.
2. Gravel pack not done right, or gravel too large.
3. Screen set at wrong depth.
4. Someone waited to long after well was drilled to put casing & screen down, and
hole caved in, so gravel pack will not work right.
5. Bore hole was drilled crooked and screen is not located straight in middle of
bore hole, screen is touching side of bore hole not allowing gravel to protect.
After well is done, you can not undo any of these problems, so my suggestion now
would be build or buy you a sand settling tank. These work better and cheaper
than filters. Please check out my free sand tank plans for this..
Q: My well pump keeps kicking on and off all day long?
A: If your well tank is water logged ( no air in holding tank anymore ) any amount
of water, even a tea spoon, the well kicks on and off. If this persist, plan on buying
a new well pump, it will burn up, there only so much abuse a well pump can take.
To fix this Charge the tank with air again, or buy new bladder tank, they never
loose air because it is in the rubber bladder ( kind of a tire tube) . Once you do this
you should have longer water cycles between well pump kicking on.
Q: When drilling geothermal ground loop holes can i use a smaller 3" bit to
save on grout ?
Depending on what size geo pipe is used. For 1" geo loop pipe we drill a 4 1/4"
bore hole. Many geothermal suppliers recommend 3 1/2" bore hole so you save
money on your grout. The Problem with the smaller bore hole, you do save on
grout, But grout is cheap only ( 12 bucks per bag). Too small a bore hole , will
make you fight to get loops down the hole at times. What would you rather do. Buy
a extra bag of 12.00 bag of grout, or have 2 men @ 14.00 per hour or more
fighting, and trying to get the loops down the hole for 4 hours in the hot sun.
Beware, some of the recommended specs on geo drilling, are text book answers
for text book jobs. Real life drilling does not always fit in the text book job section.
Also you must have a larger bit than the OD of your drill pipe. If you have 3" OD
drill pipe you can not have smaller OD bit. For 3" drill pipe use no smaller bit than
4 ". You need space for water flow to work and wash cuttings up correctly.
Q: Why is it so hard to find a good quality used drilling rig?
Simple- Drillers Making plenty of money . Most drilling contractors are booked
up for drilling jobs up to 6 months ahead. Try calling a drilling contractor, it will be
days, if at all you even get a call back.
In the drilling business they don't call back customers. It is your job to keep trying
and calling them back. With so much well drilling and the fast growing geothermal
business exploding drilling jobs are up everywhere even in a down economy. If
your a drilling contractor and have a drilling rig your making 8k to 15k per week
drilling with, why would you sell it for 10k. Most used rigs for sale are rigs that
won't make a day drilling anymore and are worn out. Make sure you get work
ready equipment. Repairs on junkie rigs can cost you 10 cents less than buying a
new one . Larger heavy truck rigs are the worst about this problem. Older truck
rigs, do not have parts available, so they have to be made. Our Rig inventory
here.
Q: I have a running spring in our creek that stopped running last year, any
suggestions?
A: Some springs are seasonal, depending on local rain and snow fall how they
flow. If weather changes, the spring output does also. But stronger Springs can also
be sanded in or plugged. This can happen when they get abused by cattle or
wildlife trampling and packing and making sort of a mud wall cake to stop or slow
the spring flow. By hand with shovel or even a small backhoe if it will fit, get down
there and clean these problem areas out. Once you get them cleaned out, put large
gravel or stones back in place to fill the void and allow water free flow better. I
have used a simple hand post hole digger to do this in many places along our creek
and got it running in more than one place . Deeper springs may require more
digging depth.
Q: I want to do a sand point well in shallow 40 ft sand, can you help with
how?
A: Sand points work great if your not going deep, and if formations are soft. Any
rock, and the deals is off. Here is a great link that explains in detail from start to
finish. If these guys don't have your answer, no one does!
http://www.fdungan.com/well.htm
thanks, i hope this helps you.
Q: Do you know any drilling contractors i can trust to hire?
A: Yes, i do know a few in different states. Please email me for current list.
Q: My shallow 40ft well, pump stuck and sanded in , but still barely
works? How do i get it out.
A: If pump is stuck, you may try lifting pump while its running, this may let it suck
sand from around it while you lift it up and real down easy. If this does not work,
you may try blowing air around pump with 1" Polly pipe to clean degree from
pump. If all fails and your water level is 26ft or higher, you can put a above ground
electric centrifugal pump and plumb it direct to pump that is there. It will suck water
through old pump and out of well.
Q: My water well pumps up to 40 psi real fast, but from 40psi to 50 psi it
takes a very long, long time? Pump is 12 years old.
A: First check for any water leaks anywhere on the place, if no leaks, look at
pump impeller. The Older pumps can have the pump impeller wear down on edges.
The impeller is the heart of the pump. This will let it still pump water, but will take
much longer to pressure up. Change the pump, and it will pressure up again. Be
sure to use new pipe and wire if it is that old.
Q: I want to buy a portable drilling rig, but only have 15k to spend? What
do you suggest?
A: There are many brands and types of portable drilling rigs available. I would have
to know how deep and what formations before making a soiled recommendation
for you. Anything new worth having prices start at around 22k to the sky the limit .
Any thing new that is cheaper than 22k is going to have cheap drill pipe and a
cheap swivel. Remember no real swivel, no real rig. My suggestion would be look
for a quality used or refurbished rig to fit that budget. It may take awhile, because
clean used drills are hard to find. We do have some used rigs available , you may
see them at www.drillcat.com/UsedRigs or email us for updated list.
Q: I have a Portable rig i bought from my friend, but it will not drill in rock.
We have more rock than i thought, I am using 8" blade bit and only get 1 ft
per hour?
A: Drilling rock is always slower than another formation. First of all, use the
smallest bit you can. 3 to 4 inch would be best. Smaller the bit, the faster the
penetration. The Bit for rock needs to be rock roller cone tooth or carbide button if
rock is very hard. Blade bits are for soft sand, clay and shale. Rock is not easy on
blade bits. The roller cone will get you through it if you have power down, or
weighted drill collars. Once pilot hole is drilled, then you can come back and ream
it to desired size. Never use extra large bits to start. If you want to drill rock fast,
fast fast, use a DTH hammer. the DTH hammer is like amini jack hammer and
fastens where drill bit goes. The DTH hammer prices start at 3k and then you need
a 15k air compressor to run it. The roller cone bits are the best bang for the buck.
Remember when you take a short cut in drilling, it becomes a long cut you wish you
had not done.
Q: Can i use a water well drilling rig to do my geothermal loops at home?
A: The main difference between a water well and geothermal rig is a grout pump.
Some have grout pumps portable, some have grout pumps on board.
The grout pump is used to grout the loops in when finished drilling. I have seen DIY
Joes do there ground loops without a grout pump, they mixed grout in a wheel
barrow and poured it in holes. It seem to work, gravity does pull it down, they did
seem to have to top it off about 3 times a day for 2 days before they filled totally.
But in a straight on a shoe string budget, it can be done. The new 10k grout pump
just does it with style and speed. If your on a for money , contract job the grout
pump is a must.
Q: When drilling i only get 30ft to 35ft and lose circulation. Formations
here are total soft sand. How can i get though this.
A: Sand can be hard to get though. Try mixing your drilling mud thicker, then try
again. Remember if you drop a BB in a glass of water it sinks, But if you drop a BB
in a milk shake it floats. Clean, clear water does not drill as good as thick drilling
mud or dirty water. If after you mix heavier drilling mud you don't regain
circulation, there is another thing you may want to try.
Run 5" to 6" casing down until it stops. Once casing is in, then you come back and
drill through the middle of the casing. The casing will keep sand walls up and will
not let sand keep washing out. This problem happens a lot where you have sand,
sand. Too much sand can be a pain to deal with.
Q: How do i know if my well makes sand?
A: The easiest way is take the tank lid off the toilet, look in bottom of toilet tank. If
you have any sediment or sand, it will settle there. If your water well makes lots of
sand, you will see a little sand in bottom of glass when you get a drink. In some
cases water wells that are over pumped will make sand. Do not over pump your
water well. What ever the GPM out put your well makes is all you can get. If water
well is a 10gpm well, do not install a 20gpm pump. This will over pump well and
you risk damaging the water well.
Q: Can i do my own Geothermal system for my home?
A: It can be done, if you know how to drill your own well . Geothermal loop bore
holes are easier to drill than a water well. Most geothermal bore holes are 3" to 4
1/2" in size, much smaller than a standard water well bore hole of 6" to 8".
One DIY guy got a bid for a geothermal system for 4 tons of a/c and heat for there
home. The price quote was 43,000.00. He did it his self including all materials for
7100.00. It took them 2 weeks and he owned his own drilling rig already, and
rented the plastic fusion equipment to put geothermal pipe together with. Do your
home work on what systems to use. No matter what system you use, every
salesman says there equipment is the best.
For more info, just email me your questions, it is hard to give complete details in
one email.
Q: My well pump broke off and fell in well. I called the well drilling company
and they want 1200.00 per day to try to fish it out. For 1200 per day, no guarantee
on anything. And even if they get it out a new well pump for 1hp he says is 1100.00
more. What can i do.
A: 1200 bucks as high as it sounds is cheaper than most drillers charge. Fishing out
a water well pump is like unlocking a car door with a coat hanger. It can be done in
a few minutes or you may never get it done. Too many variables to deal with. My
suggestion is check static well level. If water is high enough just set another pump
above it. Well pumps are only about 2 ft tall, and even if you only have 1 - 20ft well
screen, that still leaves you 18ft of well screen, more than enough. To check static
water level, just use good string line with smooth ( so it does not jam) steel washer
( large heavy) works good. Put some tape on washer so sharp edges do not cut
string. Lower down until you hear it splash. When you hear it splash, tie a knot in
string. Once you pull string up, measure knot, then you will know how deep to the
water. You will need enough water to keep pump cool and not to over heat. Also
you need enough water above pump so pump never runs dry. The higher the static
level, the better chance this works.
Q: We have many missionary's in Africa, but can't afford drilling equipment for
them to drill with .Can we get grants or donations for drilling rigs?
A: The UN council and also the Red Cross will help, if you meet there requirements
and if you can get through all there red tape, or know someone who can.
My suggestions is if you get a cheaper used Drilling rig there, the Red cross pays
groups and companies to drill water wells there. Your missionary's then could
sustain themselves and possibly do well enough to buy more and better equipment
later on.Do make sure in the area your drilling you know the formations, if they are
hard or soft, this will let you know what drilling rig will work there. Email us, if you
need further help.
Q: What is the fastest way we can drill rock. We have 300ft of rock, and our
rig is not going but 2 ft per hour drilling.
A: Drilling rock with any rig, even large million dollar truck rigs is slower than
drilling soft formations. To drill hard rock, you need a better swivel and better drill
pipe and better bits. Toy rigs can not do this. Roller cone rock tooth bits - are for
soft rock. If you have real hard rock, you will need carbide button roller bit with
weight against it. Rig should have Power down for Rock, or several weighted drill
collars. The worlds fastest way to drill Rock is the DTH ( down the hole hammer).
This is basically a mini jack hammer. It screws on drill pipe like a drill bit, but
works off of air instead of water. The DTH is fast, but cost much more than a roller
cone bit. DTH start at 2500.00 for a 4: hammer, and you still need a 500.00 bit
and a 20,000.00 air compressor to run it. On hammer drilling, the larger and
deeper the Hole the more CFM's of air you need. Remember the DTH is great in
hard rock, but if you hit soft formations it is useless. If you have a place where you
have soft and hard formations, you may have to switch bits and DTH back and
forth.
Q: We bought a cheap toy deeprock rig and it drilled fine until we hit hard clay
at 95 ft . How do we get through it with our 5 inch bit..
A: Try a smaller bit. Smaller bits drill faster and easier. The only way you can drill a
large bore hole to start, is have large drill pipe and large flow mud pumps. The
small toy rigs have small water course and small drill pipe. Use your smallest bit to
penetrate the hard clay. Once your through the hard clay, come back with larger bit
to ream it out. Reaming is always faster than drilling. One more tip, you can add
weight to your drill head, but do not over do it, remember be easy with toys rigs
with toy pipe. It can be done, but go slow . For plans to build drill bits, we do have
a plans book for DIY water well drilling rig bits.
Q: Hello, we are missionaries who want to start drilling water wells in east
Africa. We have never drilled a water well, and need training. What would
you suggest we do.
A: I would suggest you get training first. If you get the training down right, then you
will know what equipment will work and what does not work. A well educated
man will make good decisions and know enough about drilling to get the right tools
for the right job. This will save you money and keep you from wasting funds on toy
rigs. For drill training go to http://www.waterwelldrillingschool.com/index.html
Q: Need to buy portable water well drilling rig- what brand do i get?
A: There are many portable water well drilling rigs for sale. The main thing is to
determine how deep you need to drill and what formations your drilling. The
deeper you need to drill, the better rig it will take. Also the harder the formation is,
the better the rig it will take. Cheap toy rigs will not drill deep, or drill hard rock.
Do not look for brand, look for real quality parts. Most important is you need a
real Swivel and real drill pipe. Home made swivels with no weight rating and toy
plumbing pipe will not drill deep. Cheaper rigs use china plumbing pipe and call it
drill pipe.
The longer the drill pipe the better. 10ft or 15ft drill pipe is better than 4ft drill pipe.
The problem is better swivels and drill pipe equals more money. The only time you
can get away with a cheap toy drilling rig, is if your only drilling soft and only going
150ft or less. If your drilling large bore holes, or deep bore holes, it will take better
equipment which mean money. The better portable drilling rigs prices start at 25k,
anything priced cheaper will be used or toy rigs.( Rig inventory ) We sell used
rigs and refurbished drills.
Q: We have a water well in remote ranch we bought, but no electric power
there, how do we pump water?
A: If you just need a little water to drink or camp with, a Hand pump will work, if
your static water level is not over 26ft down. Deeper water will require a better
hand pump or solar or D/C pump. Surflow make a good cheap pump, or windmill
may be a option. But wind mills are 4500.00, so solar would be cheaper to set up.
Complete solar water pump set up starts around 1400.00 turn key. If you use china
junk, it will be cheaper.
If you have a generator you can install cheap standard electric pump, and run
genset for water. Only thing the generators cost big bucks for fuel.
If you could put together small solar system and D/C pump would be great.
Q: We bought a cheap toy rig, and saved money ! Now at 60ft i lost the pipe
and well caved in. Can i upgrade to bigger drill pipe?
A: Most toy drilling rigs have cheap china plumbing pipe ( they call real drill pipe)
and cheap home built toy swivels . With very small 3/4 or 1" pipe, there is not
enough water flow to keep bore hole washed clean, not to mention the thin NPT
threads that fail the first time you hit hard dirt. Even if you get a larger mud pump
for more flow, the small drill pipe restricts flow too much. If you add a larger flow
drill pipe, then the swivel will be the weak link. If you do upgrade drill this is what
you would need. Real drill pipe 2" or larger. Better swivel with water course to
match pipe flow. The Problem is the cost of good drill pipe alone is more than a
total toy rig package price. Getting a cheap drilling rig, is like getting a cheap jet
airplane.
You may sell your toy rig in paper or in yard sale. You may try renting a better
larger drilling rig. Then you save money, but have a drill that will go through the
hard stuff.
Q: We are drilling hard rock and only getting 2 ft per hour with 4" drag bit.
A" Drilling rock is always slower than soft drilling, you do need a better bit match
up. In soft fractured rock, the drag bits works some, but real hard rock will require
a rock roller cone drill bit ( carbide button) or DTH. The DTH is expensive, the
cheapest way to drill hard rock is roller cone button bit. Here are some rock drilling
tips.
Turn bit slower. The harder the formation, the slower you want to turn the bit.
Slower bit RPMS cut better. Too fast of rotation bit will spin and not bite.
Add weight. Adding weight to bits will help them bite. Weighted drill collars or
using power down will help you get results.
Drop Fracturing - if your rig has a free fall winch or fast hydraulics you can raise
bit up 6 to 10 Inches above formation ,then drop bit fast on rock. This hitting action
will fracture rock and help you inch through the hard formation. Once you drop bit
and fracture rock, then you rotate and when penetration stops repeat again, and
repeat. DANGER, do not over do this, or get too wild. You can damage swivel
or break things . Be careful.
If you have a water well question you would like answered, please feel
free to email us at drillcat@gmail.com
Q: Can i Drill my own well on my land?
A: Check your state and local laws, most of the 50 states allows land owners and
land lease holders drill on there own land. If your drilling for money or on land that
is not owner or leased by you, then that changes things. Then you will need a
drilling license for drilling for profit. The funny thing is in many states you can drill
15,000 ft oil well with no licence at all or need a licenced driller. This is the golden
rule, He with the all the gold rules.
Q: How do i know when i hit water?
A: When drilling , use a well log sheet, this records what formations your drilling
through. Course sand, gravel, and cracks in rocks bare water. Clay formations do
not.
In hard formations you may not hit water in sand formations, but fractures in the
rock. The best way is while drill pipe in the hole, blow air through it instead of
drilling mud. Once water in bore hole is blown out, then any additional water blown
out is what the well is producing. If your in soft formations that may cave in using
this method, do not do this, because you would be in danger of loosing your drill
pipe. For complete info try our water well drilling and trouble shooting book.
Or email us.
Also here is a link to show all main aquifers in the USA,
http://water.usgs.gov/ogw/NatlAqCode-reflist.html
Q: We bought a house with a well already, and the water smells like rotten
eggs. What do we do?
A: Sounds like sulphur in your water. Sulphur in your water in most cases will not
hurt you. The smell is over powering sometimes and not pleasant to smell.. Before
drinking water you can draw water in open containers or pitchers and let set out on
counter tops. After a short while the sulphur gas will leave, and water will be fine to
drink with no smell.. If you drill another well you will have to drill shallow or
deeper, buy stay out of the formation your in now. They do sell water systems to fix
these things, but it is not cheap. My suggestion is buy water system for this. If you
drill another well,you still may hit sulphur water and then your our the cost of
another well, plus still have to buy a water system too.
Q: I drilled a water well, and finished it. But how do i know if our water is
safe to drink?
A: Once your water well is complete you can treat bore hole with chlorine ( 4 to 10
oz of clorox) and kill any bacteria in water. Do not leave chlorine set long, because
chlorine can damage and corrode your well pump. After treatment only let it set a
few minutes, then run pump. After a few hours of use, the chlorine will be gone, and
also the taste. You can take a water sample and bring it to your county agent or
some colleges test your water. Make sure the container you use to take sample
with is not dirty. If you have sulphur or iron water you can smell and taste these
problems. Smaller amounts of minerals add taste and do not hurt you.
Q: What does it cost to drill a water well ?
A: Prices vary state to state. If you have to drill deep or drill hard rock, the price is
higher. Average price for soft formation water well 300ft is 8k to 15k depending
on where you live. In California water wells can cost 100.00 per ft, so a 200 ft
well is 20k. California has more permits and government regulations, this always
runs the price up. If you have shallow water or soft formations, it may be worth
your wild to check into DIY drilling or coop a group and several people go in
together and buy a drilling rig. If you only have one well to drill, just hire it done.
But remember, in all 50 states, well drillers by law are not required to hit
water and do not guarantee hitting water. The only guarantee you get is they
will cash your check before the sun goes down. This is the sad part about hiring a
drill contractor. You pay up front , and still may not have a water well at the end.
But on the flip side, the drilling contractor did not pick your land out either! What
ever water underground water resources you have , is what you have. No one But
God can change that.
Q: I have just bought 80 acres with road frontage, and want to sell lots with
water wells on them. How close can water wells be to each other.
A: Check your local county and state laws for this answer. Most states require
water wells be 50ft or more from property line and 100ft or more from sewer
systems. The larger the lots the easier this is to do. 1 acres lots or larger will make
this easy to do. When you apply for well permit, the permit rules should be plain to
read then. Water wells should be 200ft or more from other water wells. When
pumping a water well you do have draw down, so 200ft or more will help this out.
Q: We need a water well for a log home we are building. What GPM out
water well will i need?
A: Most home use water wells are 4" casing wells. Older wells drilled in the
80s some people have used 2" casing water wells. A 4" water well with GPM of 7
or more is acceptable. If your going to have a large garden or Pond to fill or Cattle
in summer drinking, you may need more. I many areas 10 to 15 gmp wells are the
standard. If you have a smaller output well, you can add a large storage tank to
help. Once your well is drilled, you can check the GMP out put of water well.
When blowing the well, Have a watch with second hand. Use 5 gallon bucket and
watch. After 15 seconds check bucket to see how much water is there. Times x 4
will give you the GPM it is making. Our DIY books covers blowing the well.
Q: I need 4 irrigation wells for our farm land we bought, but were quoted a
massive 40k for each well, and water is only 200ft down .
A: Any time you need irrigation wells, the price changes. Irrigation wells usually cast
2 to 3 times the cost of a standard home well. If you really need 4 wells, i would
suggest you buy a new or used rig, get drill training, and save yourself 120k or
more. For this kind of money savings , it leaves you plenty of room for practicing.
For irrigation wells you will need a better rig with 2 3/8" drill pipe or larger and high
flow mud pump and good swivel. Do your homework and forget any cheap toy rig
for this job. Even used rigs for this type of drilling job will start at 20k and up. But
once your finished with your Irrigation wells, and saved all this money, you still have
a drilling rig you may sell, or keep it around to service wells or drill more later.
Q: How deep should i drill my well?
A: If you drill your own water well, i would suggest reading your well log while
drilling and stop when you hit a good water bearing formation. If you have a drilling
contractor do it, they charge by the foot, so don't expect a shallow well. Shallow
wells do not pay motor home payments , deep wells do. One good way is to check
with well depths near your location.
Q: I want that Goooooood water, do i have to go deep to get it?
A: That is what drilling contractors love to hear. Prices are by the foot. So drilling
deeper is like them filling out the check for you.
Shallow water is softer and sweeter, unless your in a rare toxic zone ,near a junk
yard or cattle feed lot. Remember water is the world greatest dissolver. And
Gravity pulls everything down, water included. So the deeper the water, the more
possible lime, Iron, magnesium, salt, sulfur etc it passes over. There are exceptions
and problem areas, but deeper is not always better. The biggest problem is One
guys friend has a 200ft well, so he wants a 300ft well to have bragging rights. If you
drill a 500ft hole in non bearing water formation clay, you have no water. Just
drilling a hole at any depth does not mean you have water. Thats why you read the
cuttings washing up to see what formation you in while drilling.
Q: If i buy a small ( toy) rig, can i drill rock?
A: Drilling rock will require very good swivel, and drill pipe. When you read Drilling
rig adds, beware of power words ( out right lies) describing there toy rigs in such a
way it looks bigger than it really is.
Most toy rigs do not have real drill pipe, they only use China plumbing pipe with
standard NPT threads. Real tool joint drill pipe cost more that total price of toy rig
set up . I would Only buy a toy rig if you have no rock at all and soft, soft sand.
Plus these are labor demanding. Have a Big BBQ so you will have enough buddies
to help. There are portable water well drilling rigs trailer mounted that are not
toy. In fact we do sell many refurbished used rigs that are work ready. Checkout
our used inventory .
Q: We have a problem with sand in our well water? What can we do?
A: Every well is different , some formations have no sand, some do. When drilling a
well, mistakes can cause this problem. Here are some below.
1. Not correctly matching screen slot size to sand formations on well screen.
2. Gravel pack not done right, or gravel too large.
3. Screen set at wrong depth.
4. Someone waited to long after well was drilled to put casing & screen down, and
hole caved in, so gravel pack will not work right.
5. Bore hole was drilled crooked and screen is not located straight in middle of
bore hole, screen is touching side of bore hole not allowing gravel to protect.
After well is done, you can not undo any of these problems, so my suggestion now
would be build or buy you a sand settling tank. These work better and cheaper
than filters. Please check out my free sand tank plans for this..
Q: My well pump keeps kicking on and off all day long?
A: If your well tank is water logged ( no air in holding tank anymore ) any amount
of water, even a tea spoon, the well kicks on and off. If this persist, plan on buying
a new well pump, it will burn up, there only so much abuse a well pump can take.
To fix this Charge the tank with air again, or buy new bladder tank, they never
loose air because it is in the rubber bladder ( kind of a tire tube) . Once you do this
you should have longer water cycles between well pump kicking on.
Q: When drilling geothermal ground loop holes can i use a smaller 3" bit to
save on grout ?
Depending on what size geo pipe is used. For 1" geo loop pipe we drill a 4 1/4"
bore hole. Many geothermal suppliers recommend 3 1/2" bore hole so you save
money on your grout. The Problem with the smaller bore hole, you do save on
grout, But grout is cheap only ( 12 bucks per bag). Too small a bore hole , will
make you fight to get loops down the hole at times. What would you rather do. Buy
a extra bag of 12.00 bag of grout, or have 2 men @ 14.00 per hour or more
fighting, and trying to get the loops down the hole for 4 hours in the hot sun.
Beware, some of the recommended specs on geo drilling, are text book answers
for text book jobs. Real life drilling does not always fit in the text book job section.
Also you must have a larger bit than the OD of your drill pipe. If you have 3" OD
drill pipe you can not have smaller OD bit. For 3" drill pipe use no smaller bit than
4 ". You need space for water flow to work and wash cuttings up correctly.
Q: Why is it so hard to find a good quality used drilling rig?
Simple- Drillers Making plenty of money . Most drilling contractors are booked
up for drilling jobs up to 6 months ahead. Try calling a drilling contractor, it will be
days, if at all you even get a call back.
In the drilling business they don't call back customers. It is your job to keep trying
and calling them back. With so much well drilling and the fast growing geothermal
business exploding drilling jobs are up everywhere even in a down economy. If
your a drilling contractor and have a drilling rig your making 8k to 15k per week
drilling with, why would you sell it for 10k. Most used rigs for sale are rigs that
won't make a day drilling anymore and are worn out. Make sure you get work
ready equipment. Repairs on junkie rigs can cost you 10 cents less than buying a
new one . Larger heavy truck rigs are the worst about this problem. Older truck
rigs, do not have parts available, so they have to be made. Our Rig inventory
here.
Q: I have a running spring in our creek that stopped running last year, any
suggestions?
A: Some springs are seasonal, depending on local rain and snow fall how they
flow. If weather changes, the spring output does also. But stronger Springs can also
be sanded in or plugged. This can happen when they get abused by cattle or
wildlife trampling and packing and making sort of a mud wall cake to stop or slow
the spring flow. By hand with shovel or even a small backhoe if it will fit, get down
there and clean these problem areas out. Once you get them cleaned out, put large
gravel or stones back in place to fill the void and allow water free flow better. I
have used a simple hand post hole digger to do this in many places along our creek
and got it running in more than one place . Deeper springs may require more
digging depth.
Q: I want to do a sand point well in shallow 40 ft sand, can you help with
how?
A: Sand points work great if your not going deep, and if formations are soft. Any
rock, and the deals is off. Here is a great link that explains in detail from start to
finish. If these guys don't have your answer, no one does!
http://www.fdungan.com/well.htm
thanks, i hope this helps you.
Q: Do you know any drilling contractors i can trust to hire?
A: Yes, i do know a few in different states. Please email me for current list.
Q: My shallow 40ft well, pump stuck and sanded in , but still barely
works? How do i get it out.
A: If pump is stuck, you may try lifting pump while its running, this may let it suck
sand from around it while you lift it up and real down easy. If this does not work,
you may try blowing air around pump with 1" Polly pipe to clean degree from
pump. If all fails and your water level is 26ft or higher, you can put a above ground
electric centrifugal pump and plumb it direct to pump that is there. It will suck water
through old pump and out of well.
Q: My water well pumps up to 40 psi real fast, but from 40psi to 50 psi it
takes a very long, long time? Pump is 12 years old.
A: First check for any water leaks anywhere on the place, if no leaks, look at
pump impeller. The Older pumps can have the pump impeller wear down on edges.
The impeller is the heart of the pump. This will let it still pump water, but will take
much longer to pressure up. Change the pump, and it will pressure up again. Be
sure to use new pipe and wire if it is that old.
Q: I want to buy a portable drilling rig, but only have 15k to spend? What
do you suggest?
A: There are many brands and types of portable drilling rigs available. I would have
to know how deep and what formations before making a soiled recommendation
for you. Anything new worth having prices start at around 22k to the sky the limit .
Any thing new that is cheaper than 22k is going to have cheap drill pipe and a
cheap swivel. Remember no real swivel, no real rig. My suggestion would be look
for a quality used or refurbished rig to fit that budget. It may take awhile, because
clean used drills are hard to find. We do have some used rigs available , you may
see them at www.drillcat.com/UsedRigs or email us for updated list.
Q: I have a Portable rig i bought from my friend, but it will not drill in rock.
We have more rock than i thought, I am using 8" blade bit and only get 1 ft
per hour?
A: Drilling rock is always slower than another formation. First of all, use the
smallest bit you can. 3 to 4 inch would be best. Smaller the bit, the faster the
penetration. The Bit for rock needs to be rock roller cone tooth or carbide button if
rock is very hard. Blade bits are for soft sand, clay and shale. Rock is not easy on
blade bits. The roller cone will get you through it if you have power down, or
weighted drill collars. Once pilot hole is drilled, then you can come back and ream
it to desired size. Never use extra large bits to start. If you want to drill rock fast,
fast fast, use a DTH hammer. the DTH hammer is like amini jack hammer and
fastens where drill bit goes. The DTH hammer prices start at 3k and then you need
a 15k air compressor to run it. The roller cone bits are the best bang for the buck.
Remember when you take a short cut in drilling, it becomes a long cut you wish you
had not done.
Q: Can i use a water well drilling rig to do my geothermal loops at home?
A: The main difference between a water well and geothermal rig is a grout pump.
Some have grout pumps portable, some have grout pumps on board.
The grout pump is used to grout the loops in when finished drilling. I have seen DIY
Joes do there ground loops without a grout pump, they mixed grout in a wheel
barrow and poured it in holes. It seem to work, gravity does pull it down, they did
seem to have to top it off about 3 times a day for 2 days before they filled totally.
But in a straight on a shoe string budget, it can be done. The new 10k grout pump
just does it with style and speed. If your on a for money , contract job the grout
pump is a must.
Q: When drilling i only get 30ft to 35ft and lose circulation. Formations
here are total soft sand. How can i get though this.
A: Sand can be hard to get though. Try mixing your drilling mud thicker, then try
again. Remember if you drop a BB in a glass of water it sinks, But if you drop a BB
in a milk shake it floats. Clean, clear water does not drill as good as thick drilling
mud or dirty water. If after you mix heavier drilling mud you don't regain
circulation, there is another thing you may want to try.
Run 5" to 6" casing down until it stops. Once casing is in, then you come back and
drill through the middle of the casing. The casing will keep sand walls up and will
not let sand keep washing out. This problem happens a lot where you have sand,
sand. Too much sand can be a pain to deal with.
Q: How do i know if my well makes sand?
A: The easiest way is take the tank lid off the toilet, look in bottom of toilet tank. If
you have any sediment or sand, it will settle there. If your water well makes lots of
sand, you will see a little sand in bottom of glass when you get a drink. In some
cases water wells that are over pumped will make sand. Do not over pump your
water well. What ever the GPM out put your well makes is all you can get. If water
well is a 10gpm well, do not install a 20gpm pump. This will over pump well and
you risk damaging the water well.
Q: Can i do my own Geothermal system for my home?
A: It can be done, if you know how to drill your own well . Geothermal loop bore
holes are easier to drill than a water well. Most geothermal bore holes are 3" to 4
1/2" in size, much smaller than a standard water well bore hole of 6" to 8".
One DIY guy got a bid for a geothermal system for 4 tons of a/c and heat for there
home. The price quote was 43,000.00. He did it his self including all materials for
7100.00. It took them 2 weeks and he owned his own drilling rig already, and
rented the plastic fusion equipment to put geothermal pipe together with. Do your
home work on what systems to use. No matter what system you use, every
salesman says there equipment is the best.
For more info, just email me your questions, it is hard to give complete details in
one email.
Q: My well pump broke off and fell in well. I called the well drilling company
and they want 1200.00 per day to try to fish it out. For 1200 per day, no guarantee
on anything. And even if they get it out a new well pump for 1hp he says is 1100.00
more. What can i do.
A: 1200 bucks as high as it sounds is cheaper than most drillers charge. Fishing out
a water well pump is like unlocking a car door with a coat hanger. It can be done in
a few minutes or you may never get it done. Too many variables to deal with. My
suggestion is check static well level. If water is high enough just set another pump
above it. Well pumps are only about 2 ft tall, and even if you only have 1 - 20ft well
screen, that still leaves you 18ft of well screen, more than enough. To check static
water level, just use good string line with smooth ( so it does not jam) steel washer
( large heavy) works good. Put some tape on washer so sharp edges do not cut
string. Lower down until you hear it splash. When you hear it splash, tie a knot in
string. Once you pull string up, measure knot, then you will know how deep to the
water. You will need enough water to keep pump cool and not to over heat. Also
you need enough water above pump so pump never runs dry. The higher the static
level, the better chance this works.
Q: We have many missionary's in Africa, but can't afford drilling equipment for
them to drill with .Can we get grants or donations for drilling rigs?
A: The UN council and also the Red Cross will help, if you meet there requirements
and if you can get through all there red tape, or know someone who can.
My suggestions is if you get a cheaper used Drilling rig there, the Red cross pays
groups and companies to drill water wells there. Your missionary's then could
sustain themselves and possibly do well enough to buy more and better equipment
later on.Do make sure in the area your drilling you know the formations, if they are
hard or soft, this will let you know what drilling rig will work there. Email us, if you
need further help.
Q: What is the fastest way we can drill rock. We have 300ft of rock, and our
rig is not going but 2 ft per hour drilling.
A: Drilling rock with any rig, even large million dollar truck rigs is slower than
drilling soft formations. To drill hard rock, you need a better swivel and better drill
pipe and better bits. Toy rigs can not do this. Roller cone rock tooth bits - are for
soft rock. If you have real hard rock, you will need carbide button roller bit with
weight against it. Rig should have Power down for Rock, or several weighted drill
collars. The worlds fastest way to drill Rock is the DTH ( down the hole hammer).
This is basically a mini jack hammer. It screws on drill pipe like a drill bit, but
works off of air instead of water. The DTH is fast, but cost much more than a roller
cone bit. DTH start at 2500.00 for a 4: hammer, and you still need a 500.00 bit
and a 20,000.00 air compressor to run it. On hammer drilling, the larger and
deeper the Hole the more CFM's of air you need. Remember the DTH is great in
hard rock, but if you hit soft formations it is useless. If you have a place where you
have soft and hard formations, you may have to switch bits and DTH back and
forth.
Q: We bought a cheap toy deeprock rig and it drilled fine until we hit hard clay
at 95 ft . How do we get through it with our 5 inch bit..
A: Try a smaller bit. Smaller bits drill faster and easier. The only way you can drill a
large bore hole to start, is have large drill pipe and large flow mud pumps. The
small toy rigs have small water course and small drill pipe. Use your smallest bit to
penetrate the hard clay. Once your through the hard clay, come back with larger bit
to ream it out. Reaming is always faster than drilling. One more tip, you can add
weight to your drill head, but do not over do it, remember be easy with toys rigs
with toy pipe. It can be done, but go slow . For plans to build drill bits, we do have
a plans book for DIY water well drilling rig bits.
Q: Hello, we are missionaries who want to start drilling water wells in east
Africa. We have never drilled a water well, and need training. What would
you suggest we do.
A: I would suggest you get training first. If you get the training down right, then you
will know what equipment will work and what does not work. A well educated
man will make good decisions and know enough about drilling to get the right tools
for the right job. This will save you money and keep you from wasting funds on toy
rigs. For drill training go to http://www.waterwelldrillingschool.com/index.html
Q: Need to buy portable water well drilling rig- what brand do i get?
A: There are many portable water well drilling rigs for sale. The main thing is to
determine how deep you need to drill and what formations your drilling. The
deeper you need to drill, the better rig it will take. Also the harder the formation is,
the better the rig it will take. Cheap toy rigs will not drill deep, or drill hard rock.
Do not look for brand, look for real quality parts. Most important is you need a
real Swivel and real drill pipe. Home made swivels with no weight rating and toy
plumbing pipe will not drill deep. Cheaper rigs use china plumbing pipe and call it
drill pipe.
The longer the drill pipe the better. 10ft or 15ft drill pipe is better than 4ft drill pipe.
The problem is better swivels and drill pipe equals more money. The only time you
can get away with a cheap toy drilling rig, is if your only drilling soft and only going
150ft or less. If your drilling large bore holes, or deep bore holes, it will take better
equipment which mean money. The better portable drilling rigs prices start at 25k,
anything priced cheaper will be used or toy rigs.( Rig inventory ) We sell used
rigs and refurbished drills.
Q: We have a water well in remote ranch we bought, but no electric power
there, how do we pump water?
A: If you just need a little water to drink or camp with, a Hand pump will work, if
your static water level is not over 26ft down. Deeper water will require a better
hand pump or solar or D/C pump. Surflow make a good cheap pump, or windmill
may be a option. But wind mills are 4500.00, so solar would be cheaper to set up.
Complete solar water pump set up starts around 1400.00 turn key. If you use china
junk, it will be cheaper.
If you have a generator you can install cheap standard electric pump, and run
genset for water. Only thing the generators cost big bucks for fuel.
If you could put together small solar system and D/C pump would be great.
Q: We bought a cheap toy rig, and saved money ! Now at 60ft i lost the pipe
and well caved in. Can i upgrade to bigger drill pipe?
A: Most toy drilling rigs have cheap china plumbing pipe ( they call real drill pipe)
and cheap home built toy swivels . With very small 3/4 or 1" pipe, there is not
enough water flow to keep bore hole washed clean, not to mention the thin NPT
threads that fail the first time you hit hard dirt. Even if you get a larger mud pump
for more flow, the small drill pipe restricts flow too much. If you add a larger flow
drill pipe, then the swivel will be the weak link. If you do upgrade drill this is what
you would need. Real drill pipe 2" or larger. Better swivel with water course to
match pipe flow. The Problem is the cost of good drill pipe alone is more than a
total toy rig package price. Getting a cheap drilling rig, is like getting a cheap jet
airplane.
You may sell your toy rig in paper or in yard sale. You may try renting a better
larger drilling rig. Then you save money, but have a drill that will go through the
hard stuff.
Q: We are drilling hard rock and only getting 2 ft per hour with 4" drag bit.
A" Drilling rock is always slower than soft drilling, you do need a better bit match
up. In soft fractured rock, the drag bits works some, but real hard rock will require
a rock roller cone drill bit ( carbide button) or DTH. The DTH is expensive, the
cheapest way to drill hard rock is roller cone button bit. Here are some rock drilling
tips.
Turn bit slower. The harder the formation, the slower you want to turn the bit.
Slower bit RPMS cut better. Too fast of rotation bit will spin and not bite.
Add weight. Adding weight to bits will help them bite. Weighted drill collars or
using power down will help you get results.
Drop Fracturing - if your rig has a free fall winch or fast hydraulics you can raise
bit up 6 to 10 Inches above formation ,then drop bit fast on rock. This hitting action
will fracture rock and help you inch through the hard formation. Once you drop bit
and fracture rock, then you rotate and when penetration stops repeat again, and
repeat. DANGER, do not over do this, or get too wild. You can damage swivel
or break things . Be careful.
Water Rights in Action
Questions and Answers
