Well Drilling (5 Viewers)

[JRFJ4-]

Does anybody here know anything about well drilling.

I finally got someone out to the house the other day. Been trying to get someone out for two months. They got to about 50 feet and I heard the drill rig shut down. The guy came over and said they had drilled into a cave. They told me that they had to have water/air pressure to drill or the drill head would get stuck.

To get to the point, they packed up and left. They didn't feel that they could drill a well at my place. Even though all my neighbors have wells.

Maybe I'm just stupid, but I don't get it. They said that someone could probably drill a 8" hole and use steel casing, and get a hole dug. However that runs $40 a foot for the drill/casing. They said they had not got to rock yet, it would be soft and then they would hit a rock, which was making drilling difficult.

Anyway, anybody know a good well driller around North Alabama. If you know someone who knows someone, shoot me a PM. I've got to get something done in about 6 weeks.

BTW, city water is about 1/2 mile away. That's just too much work for the time I have before I have to move.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Mace]

A "cave"?

What type of drill rig was it? How were they drilling? Rotary? Auger? Mud?

To me, a domestic well has a 6 or 8" PVC or mild steel casing.

Did they hit water yet?
What is the rock type around you?

I got lots of questions, but right now, your driller sounds like he has no idea what he is doing..

 

[inthewall]

IF they hit a cavern they lost circulation. They could pump mud down the whole while drilling to keep the circulation. It can get pretty expensive. Also like they said, drill a larger diameter hole and case it through the cavern, then redrill into the bedrock with a smaller bit. Get another opinion from another drill company.

 

[bkfj40]

who did your neighbors use?

I just called up a well driller to come out to my cabin since we lost our spring that fed the water to it....I sure didn't like the $9k estimate that he gave me based on a 300 foot well....


I would open up that phone book and call a few places. Ask around. Does your county require you to get a permit for well? In Virginia, I need to get a permit - the county office said that they don't like to give referrals, but "so and so" does quite a few of them...


bk

 

[JRFJ4-]

Update

I talked to another driller yesterday. He seemed to think that the first guy didn't know what he was doing either. He said he would come by this weekend and hopefully could start drilling next week.

It's been so dry here this summer, well drillers are running months behind. So hopefully this new guy is not lying to me about getting out here. It's hard to even get someone to call you back. Then they say they will be out at the end of the week. We've got about 20 of these, I'll see you at the end of the week phone calls.

My place is a reclaimed coal mine. It was reclaimed back in the early eighties. It's rocky, but the entire area really is. Sandstone mainly, with some limestone. Wells generally run in the 100 foot range around here.

The rig they brought out was drilling an 8" hole. It was not a cable rig, because he said they had two of those also.

I would think (remember I know nothing about well drilling) that someone already has a good 50 foot start for their drill. If they can deal with the cave issue.



Oh, No permits required in my county.

 

[RHINO]

if it was my property i think i'd want to check out the cave.

 

[D'Animal]

if it was my property i think i'd want to check out the cave.

With a camera on a rope.


Don't they have a lot of emeralds in that part of the country?

 

[Mace]

depends on the cave. If it was a loss of circulation zone it could easily have been a dissoltuin cave. or just a fracture. You said most wells were ~ `100' deep. where is the typical water table?

 

[JRFJ4-]

My neighbors wells are approximately 100 feet deep, and that what the driller said most around the house are. So to answer your question about the water table, I don't have a clue.

I've got a bunch of natural springs that feed one of my ponds. It's amazing how much water comes up out of the ground. It's not running all summer because it's been so dry. But it still is feeding the pond, because the pond does have water running out of it.

I talked to some people that have buried some kind of holding vessel in a spring and pumped water directly from it. I would be afraid the spring would dry up in the summertime.

If we can find a good vein of water now, we should be in good shape. We are still way below our normal rainfall.

Here is a picture of one place a spring comes up. It's not a good picture, but this water is rushing out of the ground in probably five places around here.

 

[Mace]

Springs are created by water flowing under some sort of confining layer (think clay or caliche), building press by running downhill, then finding some sort of conduit (fracture/fault) and coming to the surface. Your honest best bet is to try to drill down below that confining layer and tap into the springs source..

If you do not, you are most likley just sucking off of the water that was provided by the springs over time.

Anytime you drill in an area that is fractured you are going to have complicated drilling. There is no area that is undrillable. It just depends on how good the driller is and how much money you have

If they are drilling with a mud system keep and eye on the mud properties. Get nosey.. Ask the driller a lot of questions. They are your employees. By paying attention, you can have a much better well in the end..

 

[GeoRoss]

Springs are created by water flowing under some sort of confining layer (think clay or caliche), building press by running downhill, then finding some sort of conduit (fracture/fault) and coming to the surface. Your honest best bet is to try to drill down below that confining layer and tap into the springs source..

If you do not, you are most likley just sucking off of the water that was provided by the springs over time.

Anytime you drill in an area that is fractured you are going to have complicated drilling. There is no area that is undrillable. It just depends on how good the driller is and how much money you have

If they are drilling with a mud system keep and eye on the mud properties. Get nosey.. Ask the driller a lot of questions. They are your employees. By paying attention, you can have a much better well in the end..

Every driller that I know hates drilling in fractured rocks due to the unpredictable pressure issues. I only really know about mud drilling and those fracture zones can really suck up mud, which gets pretty expensive really fast. Once you loose your mud pressure it gets painful, at least that is what I am told.

Mace is right on though about getting below that impermeable layer, otherwise you are just hitting that seasonal overflow that drives the springs. Couple of dry years and you would find yourself either hauling in water or drilling a deeper well.


How did you decide on the well location?

 

[bkfj40]

Springs are created by water flowing under some sort of confining layer (think clay or caliche), building press by running downhill, then finding some sort of conduit (fracture/fault) and coming to the surface. Your honest best bet is to try to drill down below that confining layer and tap into the springs source..

I'd listen to Mace...IIRC, I think he's a rock jock


bk

 

[Mace]

Every driller that I know hates drilling in fractured rocks due to the unpredictable pressure issues. I only really know about mud drilling and those fracture zones can really suck up mud, which gets pretty expensive really fast. Once you loose your mud pressure it gets painful, at least that is what I am told.

ALL HAIL THE PANSIES!!!!

Most drillers will not want to drill in difficult formations. Fractures make drilling risky and difficult.

Personally, I aim for fractures. In rock, fractures = water..

 

[Mace]

BTW, GeoRoss is a Rock Jock

I am working on my Cub Scout Water Boy Badge..

 

[GeoRoss]

ALL HAIL THE PANSIES!!!!

Most drillers will not want to drill in difficult formations. Fractures make drilling risky and difficult.

Personally, I aim for fractures. In rock, fractures = water..

Same in oil and gas. The funny one is fracturing an existing reservoir to increase the flow. It is evidently a fine line between increasing production and killing the reservoir.

Those pansy drill engineers piss and moan alot. I should send that pic to some industry friends. To be truthful those pressure changes can be really deadly.

BTW, GeoRoss is a Rock Jock

I am working on my Cub Scout Water Boy Badge..

My water boy badge is getting me nowhere. For some reason people think you need to have taken classes to know anything about hydrology. Interviewers really don't like it when I say "Everything I learned about hydrology was from bathroom stalls". (I kid, I kid)

 

[Mace]

Interviewers really don't like it when I say "Everything I learned about hydrology was from bathroom stalls". (I kid, I kid)

Funny, that is how I got my job

 

[GeoRoss]

Funny, that is how I got my job

I'll keep up the schtick. One thing I say is fluids are fluids, I know how oil and gas move through rocks and their reservoir needs. How different can it be? Alot of these guys are pretty uptight.

Truth be known, I'll be really glad to get out of la-la land.

 

[n2666s]

you might try Johnson Drilling out of Tuscaloosa; has a good reputation;

Lou

 

[Kofoed]

You can try an air rotary rig. The cfm of the air (typically 300psi at 900 cfm) is able blow out the cuttings and continue advancing the hole.

Check your local building department for driller recommendations.

 

[JRFJ4-]

Tomorrow

Well, the guy should be out to try and dig the well tomorrow. They came out last week and picked out a place. Don't know how they did it.

These seem to be good ole boys, and said they would not charge me if they could not get water.

Hopefully, I will get some good news tomorrow afternoon. We've got to move the weekend after December 12.

Time is getting really tight.

JR