An Overview of the Well Drilling Process and Tips for You to Consider

About one in five homeowners in the United States have private wells as their primary source of drinking water. If you have purchased a remote piece of property that is not on a municipal water grid, you will need to have a well drilled on your property if you are to be supplied with fresh water.

As such, you may be interested in learning more about the process of well drilling in North Carolina and some of the factors you will need to take into consideration when planning for the installation of your new well. Here is an overview of what you should know about drilling a well.

Well drilling process and information

Drilled wells are created with specialized machines, which could include top-head rotary, table rotary or cable tool drilling equipment. There are some wells that can be dug out with hand-drilling applications like augers, jetting, hand percussion or sludging, but the more common method involves the use of machine drilling, such as percussion or rotary, the latter of which is used in 90 percent of deep rock formations.

With drilled wells, you’re able to get much deeper than dug wells, and in some cases can get down to several hundred meters below the surface to reach deep aquifers. Most water wells, though, will range from anywhere between three and 18 meters deep, only going deeper when absolutely necessary to reach the nearest water source below ground.

Rotary drilling machines used in the process of drilling out a well feature a segmented steel drilling string that comprises 20-foot sections of galvanized steel tubes that get threaded to each other along with a bit or other type of drilling device affixed to the bottom end. Some types of machines are designed to also install a casing into the well along with the drilling process. During the drilling process, air or water will be used to displace the cuttings and cool down the bits, preventing them from overheating.

Most wells will feature some form of casing, usually made out of steel or plastic/PVC. If the casing gets installed during the drilling process, the drills will generally drive that casing into the ground as the boring process advances. However, there are some newer types of equipment that allow the casing to be drilled into the formation similar to the bit below. The sections of casing may be anywhere from six to 12 inches in diameter, depending on what the well will be used for and what sort of groundwater conditions are present.

Surface seals are used to prevent surface contamination of the wells. There will be one large hole drilled to a certain depth, and then a smaller hole for the well from that point on. The well gets cased from the surface down in the same diameter of the smaller hole, but the space between the large bore hole and that smaller casing must then be sealed with substances like concrete, clay or another sealant to prevent contamination.

For more information about drilling a well in North Carolina, contact Love Well & Pump Supply, LLC today.

Categorised in: Water Well Installation

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