The Drilling Process
Pre-Spud
The first step in drilling a water well is getting an estimate. It's imperative that you provide an accurate well location or elevation so that the well company can provide you with an accurate depth; as all well costs are dependent on the depth. Second, a site visit is strongly recommended so all details can be accounted for prior to the start of the job. This also gives us a chance to ensure you meet all the rules for the Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District, or your local regulating body.
Well permits are required in most counties. Well permits can cost upwards to $1000 depending on the governing body. Deeds and plats are usually required for a new well, along with a development permit in Kendall County.
Having a good idea of your house size, irrigation, livestock, pool, and family demands helps us determine what size system you will need. As soon as we have a physical address, we can compare your location to offset wells in our database to see how deep the aquifer is, and relate it to your location. This can also give us an idea of how well the aquifer in your area produces.
Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District
Spud
Once we have been hired for the work and done a site visit, our rig, water truck, and drill pipe trailer (if deeper than ~300') will be moved to location. Drilling usually only takes a few days. In the event we drill into a cave or upper/shallow undesirable water, we must cement off these stratas. We like the cement to set up for 18-24 hours before drilling through it.
Once we have drilled to total depth, we will clean out the hole with an air/water mixture that bring all of the cuttings to surface. We will also do an initial Gallons Per Minute (GPM) test to get an idea of what the well is producing.
After cleaning the hole, we will trip out, and begin settings casing. We have started to use a process on 80%+ of our wells, that involves setting a screened casing from bottom to the top of the water-bearing strata. In lieu of cement for this section, we pour gravel between the casing and the wellbore. Cement is them pumped from the top of the gravel to surface. This process protects against potential wellbore collapse during the life of the well. The other option is to set casing and cement from above the water-bearing strata to surface. Cementing the well must be done in sections to prevent too much weight and stress on the casing, causing it to potentially collapse.
Completion
Once the well is cemented, we can schedule our completion crews to finish the well system. If the customer is installing a storage tank, we will schedule that before the final pump installation and hookup. Pump installation and hookup usually takes less than a day. We can also do a temporary hookup so that you get water sooner for contractors to use during the building process. Once the final structures are built, we can move the well system inside them.
Once the system is installed and operating, we are glad to make a site visit with the property owners to do a final walk-through and explain how the system operates.
