drill your own water well with mud pump made in china

The objective in choosing a method to drill a water well is to use the least expensive method that can be successful given the type of material that must be drilled through and the depth that must be drilled to reach an acceptable source of groundwater.

Often, there are no options, and the choices we have are limited, maybe even non-existent. But the method used to drill a water well must match the geology.

Most manual well drilling methods have been adapted to use machine power instead of human power. Also, powered methods have been developed that can drill larger diameter boreholes much deeper and faster than any manual method. Machines used to drill a water well are typically called a "drill rig" or just a "rig".

This method employs a pump to force a flow of water down a drill pipe and out a narrow nozzle to make a ""jet"" of water that loosens the sediment. The return flow of water outside the drill pipe carries cuttings up to the surface and into a settling pit. The pump then returns the water back down the pipe. The drill pipe is suspended from a tripod and rotated by hand to keep the borehole straight.

This method only requires lengths of pipe and a water pump that can generate sufficient pressure. The pipe is often left in the ground to serve as the well casing.

The diameter of the borehole is only slightly larger than the drill pipe/casing. Therefore, it is difficult to install an adequate sanitary seal to protect the well from surface water contamination.

This is a mechanized version of manual percussion drilling. The heavy drill bit and related parts are called the ""tools"" and they are raised and dropped on a steel cable.

Cuttings are removed with a bailer. Several meters of water must be maintained in the borehole to keep the cuttings suspended. The machinery ranges from a very simple skid-mounted powered winch with a tripod to a complex set of pulleys and drums with a large mast.

A cable tool rig can drill through anything. The larger versions can drill a water well hundreds of meters deep. Compared with other powered drill rigs, the machinery is simple and has a relatively low rate of fuel consumption

Compared to other drill rigs of a similar size, a cable tool rig will drill a water wellvery slowly. When drilling in loose sediments, it is necessary to drive steel pipe behind the drill bit to keep the borehole from collapsing.

This method used to drill a water well starts with the basic concept of well jetting described above. Add a larger cutting bit, lengths of steel drill pipe with threaded joints, a motor to turn and lift the drill pipe, and a sturdy mast to support the pipe and you have the elements of a mud rotary drill rig. A further refinement is mixing bentonite clay or other materials in the water to improve its ability to lift cuttings out of the hole; this fluid is called ""drilling mud"" or just ""mud.""

There are many kinds of mud rotary drill rigs used to drill a water well. They fall in two basic categories; table drive, where the drill pipe is turned by a rotating mechanism near the base of the rig, and top-head drive, where the drill pipe is turned by a motor attached to the upper end of the pipe.

In both types, the upper end of the drill pipe is attached to a lifting mechanism that raises and lowers it along the mast. Both types of mud rotary rigs also have a swivel attached to the upper end of the drill pipe that allows drilling mud to be pumped down the drill pipe while the pipe is rotating.

The larger the rig, the faster and deeper it can drill. The LS100 and LS200 drill rigs are mud rotary rigs at the small end of the range of drill rig sizes.

Mud rotary drilling is also much faster than cable tool. A large mud rotary rig can drill a borehole 60 cm in diameter to 1,000 meters or more. Even a small rig like the LS200 can drill a 20 cm porthole to a depth of 60 meters.

As a result, mud rotary rigs use more fuel per hour than a comparable cable tool rig. Most drilling operations that use a large mud rotary rig also require support vehicles to haul water and drill pipe.

The mechanical elements of an air rotary drill rig are similar to a mud rotary rig; table drive and top-head drive are the two basic options for rotating the drill pipe. The principal difference is an air rotary rig uses compressed air to remove cuttings rather than drilling mud.

A type of ""foam"" can be added to the air stream to improve cuttings removal and provide some borehole stability. An air rotary rig can use the same type of drill bits as a mud rig, but it can also drill with a down-the-hole hammer.

This type of bit uses compressed air to break up rock and it can drill very fast. A large air rotary rig can drill a borehole 60 cm in diameter to 500 meters or more.

Because there is no drilling mud to mix or settling pits to dig, an air rotary rig can be set up very quickly. An air rotary rig also drills much faster than any other rig of a comparable size.

An air rotary drill rig requires a very large air compressor, especially if a down-hole hammer is used. This adds significantly to the cost of the rig, its maintenance needs, and its fuel use.

A large air rotary rig will consume 40-60 liters per hour of fuel, making it one of the most expensive types of drill rig to operate. Large air rotary rigs also require support vehicles.

Swiss Centre for Development Cooperation in Technology and Management (SKAT) has published a manual entitled "Drilled Wells" which covers additional topics and information on the subject of how to drill a well. The PDF of that manual can be downloaded here.

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A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn up by a pump, or using containers, such as buckets or large water bags that are raised mechanically or by hand. Water can also be injected back into the aquifer through the well. Wells were first constructed at least eight thousand years ago and historically vary in construction from a simple scoop in the sediment of a dry watercourse to the qanats of Iran, and the stepwells and sakiehs of India. Placing a lining in the well shaft helps create stability, and linings of wood or wickerwork date back at least as far as the Iron Age.

Wells have traditionally been sunk by hand digging, as is still the case in rural areas of the developing world. These wells are inexpensive and low-tech as they use mostly manual labour, and the structure can be lined with brick or stone as the excavation proceeds. A more modern method called caissoning uses pre-cast reinforced concrete well rings that are lowered into the hole. Driven wells can be created in unconsolidated material with a well hole structure, which consists of a hardened drive point and a screen of perforated pipe, after which a pump is installed to collect the water. Deeper wells can be excavated by hand drilling methods or machine drilling, using a bit in a borehole. Drilled wells are usually cased with a factory-made pipe composed of steel or plastic. Drilled wells can access water at much greater depths than dug wells.

Two broad classes of well are shallow or unconfined wells completed within the uppermost saturated aquifer at that location, and deep or confined wells, sunk through an impermeable stratum into an aquifer beneath. A collector well can be constructed adjacent to a freshwater lake or stream with water percolating through the intervening material. The site of a well can be selected by a hydrogeologist, or groundwater surveyor. Water may be pumped or hand drawn. Impurities from the surface can easily reach shallow sources and contamination of the supply by pathogens or chemical contaminants needs to be avoided. Well water typically contains more minerals in solution than surface water and may require treatment before being potable. Soil salination can occur as the water table falls and the surrounding soil begins to dry out. Another environmental problem is the potential for methane to seep into the water.

Very early neolithic wells are known from the Eastern Mediterranean:pre-pottery neolithic (PPN) site of Kissonerga-Mylouthkia on Cyprus. At around 8400 BC a shaft (well 116) of circular diameter was driven through limestone to reach an aquifer at a depth of 8 metres (26 ft). Well 2070 from Kissonerga-Mylouthkia, dating to the late PPN, reaches a depth of 13 metres (43 ft). Other slightly younger wells are known from this site and from neighbouring Parekklisha-Shillourokambos. A first stone lined‘Atlit-Yam off the coast near modern Haifa in Israel.

Wood-lined wells are known from the early Neolithic Linear Pottery culture, for example in Ostrov, Czech Republic, dated 5265 BC,Erkelenz), dated 5090 BC, and Eythra in Schletz (an outlying centre of Asparn an der Zaya) in Austria, dated 5200 BC.

Some of the earliest evidence of water wells is located in China. The neolithic Chinese discovered and made extensive use of deep drilled groundwater for drinking.Hemedu excavation site was believed to have been built during the neolithic era.

Wells for other purposes came along much later, historically. The first recorded salt well was dug in the Sichuan province of China around 2,250 years ago. This was the first time that ancient water well technology was applied successfully for the exploitation of salt, and marked the beginning of Sichuan"s salt drilling industry.oil wells were also drilled in China, in 347 CE. These wells had depths of up to about 240 metres (790 ft) and were drilled using bits attached to bamboo poles.brine and produce salt. By the 10th century, extensive bamboo pipelines connected oil wells with salt springs. The ancient records of China and Japan are said to contain many allusions to the use of natural gas for lighting and heating. Petroleum was known as Burning water in Japan in the 7th century.

Until recent centuries, all artificial wells were pumpless hand-dug wells of varying degrees of sophistication, and they remain a very important source of potable water in some rural developing areas, where they are routinely dug and used today. Their indispensability has produced a number of literary references, literal and figurative, including the reference to the incident of Jesus meeting a woman at Jacob"s well (John 4:6) in the Bible and the "Ding Dong Bell" nursery rhyme about a cat in a well.

Hand-dug wells are excavations with diameters large enough to accommodate one or more people with shovels digging down to below the water table. The excavation is braced horizontally to avoid landslide or erosion endangering the people digging. They can be lined with stone or brick; extending this lining upwards above the ground surface to form a wall around the well serves to reduce both contamination and accidental falls into the well.

A more modern method called caissoning uses reinforced concrete or plain concrete pre-cast well rings that are lowered into the hole. A well-digging team digs under a cutting ring and the well column slowly sinks into the aquifer, whilst protecting the team from collapse of the well bore.

Hand-dug wells are inexpensive and low tech (compared to drilling) and they use mostly manual labour to access groundwater in rural locations of developing countries. They may be built with a high degree of community participation, or by local entrepreneurs who specialize in hand-dug wells. They have been successfully excavated to 60 metres (200 ft). They have low operational and maintenance costs, in part because water can be extracted by hand, without a pump. The water often comes from an aquifer or groundwater, and can be easily deepened, which may be necessary if the ground water level drops, by telescoping the lining further down into the aquifer. The yield of existing hand dug wells may be improved by deepening or introducing vertical tunnels or perforated pipes.

Drawbacks to hand-dug wells are numerous. It can be impractical to hand dig wells in areas where hard rock is present, and they can be time-consuming to dig and line even in favourable areas. Because they exploit shallow aquifers, the well may be susceptible to yield fluctuations and possible contamination from surface water, including sewage. Hand dug well construction generally requires the use of a well trained construction team, and the capital investment for equipment such as concrete ring moulds, heavy lifting equipment, well shaft formwork, motorized de-watering pumps, and fuel can be large for people in developing countries. Construction of hand dug wells can be dangerous due to collapse of the well bore, falling objects and asphyxiation, including from dewatering pump exhaust fumes.

The Woodingdean Water Well, hand-dug between 1858 and 1862, is the deepest hand-dug well at 392 metres (1,285 ft).Big Well in Greensburg, Kansas is billed as the world"s largest hand-dug well, at 109 feet (33 m) deep and 32 feet (9.8 m) in diameter. However, the Well of Joseph in the Cairo Citadel at 280 feet (85 m) deep and the Pozzo di San Patrizio (St. Patrick"s Well) built in 1527 in Orvieto, Italy, at 61 metres (200 ft) deep by 13 metres (43 ft) wide

Driven wells may be very simply created in unconsolidated material with a well hole structure, which consists of a hardened drive point and a screen (perforated pipe). The point is simply hammered into the ground, usually with a tripod and driver, with pipe sections added as needed. A driver is a weighted pipe that slides over the pipe being driven and is repeatedly dropped on it. When groundwater is encountered, the well is washed of sediment and a pump installed.

Drilled wells are constructed using various types of drilling machines, such as top-head rotary, table rotary, or cable tool, which all use drilling stems that rotate to cut into the formation, thus the term "drilling."

Drilled wells can be excavated by simple hand drilling methods (augering, sludging, jetting, driving, hand percussion) or machine drilling (rotary, percussion, down the hole hammer). Deeprock rotary drilling method is most common. Rotary can be used in 90% of formation types.

Drilled wells with electric pumps are used throughout the world, typically in rural or sparsely populated areas, though many urban areas are supplied partly by municipal wells. Most shallow well drilling machines are mounted on large trucks, trailers, or tracked vehicle carriages. Water wells typically range from 3 to 18 metres (10–60 ft) deep, but in some areas can go deeper than 900 metres (3,000 ft).

Rotary drilling machines use a segmented steel drilling string, typically made up of 6 m (20 ft) sections of galvanized steel tubing that are threaded together, with a bit or other drilling device at the bottom end. Some rotary drilling machines are designed to install (by driving or drilling) a steel casing into the well in conjunction with the drilling of the actual bore hole. Air and/or water is used as a circulation fluid to displace cuttings and cool bits during the drilling. Another form of rotary-style drilling, termed mud rotary, makes use of a specially made mud, or drilling fluid, which is constantly being altered during the drill so that it can consistently create enough hydraulic pressure to hold the side walls of the bore hole open, regardless of the presence of a casing in the well. Typically, boreholes drilled into solid rock are not cased until after the drilling process is completed, regardless of the machinery used.

The oldest form of drilling machinery is the cable tool, still used today. Specifically designed to raise and lower a bit into the bore hole, the spudding of the drill causes the bit to be raised and dropped onto the bottom of the hole, and the design of the cable causes the bit to twist at approximately 1⁄4 revolution per drop, thereby creating a drilling action. Unlike rotary drilling, cable tool drilling requires the drilling action to be stopped so that the bore hole can be bailed or emptied of drilled cuttings.

Drilled wells are usually cased with a factory-made pipe, typically steel (in air rotary or cable tool drilling) or plastic/PVC (in mud rotary wells, also present in wells drilled into solid rock). The casing is constructed by welding, either chemically or thermally, segments of casing together. If the casing is installed during the drilling, most drills will drive the casing into the ground as the bore hole advances, while some newer machines will actually allow for the casing to be rotated and drilled into the formation in a similar manner as the bit advancing just below. PVC or plastic is typically welded and then lowered into the drilled well, vertically stacked with their ends nested and either glued or splined together. The sections of casing are usually 6 metres (20 ft) or more in length, and 6 to 12 in (15 to 30 cm) in diameter, depending on the intended use of the well and local groundwater conditions.

Surface contamination of wells in the United States is typically controlled by the use of a surface seal. A large hole is drilled to a predetermined depth or to a confining formation (clay or bedrock, for example), and then a smaller hole for the well is completed from that point forward. The well is typically cased from the surface down into the smaller hole with a casing that is the same diameter as that hole. The annular space between the large bore hole and the smaller casing is filled with bentonite clay, concrete, or other sealant material. This creates an impermeable seal from the surface to the next confining layer that keeps contaminants from traveling down the outer sidewalls of the casing or borehole and into the aquifer. In addition, wells are typically capped with either an engineered well cap or seal that vents air through a screen into the well, but keeps insects, small animals, and unauthorized persons from accessing the well.

At the bottom of wells, based on formation, a screening device, filter pack, slotted casing, or open bore hole is left to allow the flow of water into the well. Constructed screens are typically used in unconsolidated formations (sands, gravels, etc.), allowing water and a percentage of the formation to pass through the screen. Allowing some material to pass through creates a large area filter out of the rest of the formation, as the amount of material present to pass into the well slowly decreases and is removed from the well. Rock wells are typically cased with a PVC liner/casing and screen or slotted casing at the bottom, this is mostly present just to keep rocks from entering the pump assembly. Some wells utilize a filter pack method, where an undersized screen or slotted casing is placed inside the well and a filter medium is packed around the screen, between the screen and the borehole or casing. This allows the water to be filtered of unwanted materials before entering the well and pumping zone.

Deep or confined wells are sunk through an impermeable stratum into an aquifer that is sandwiched between two impermeable strata (aquitards or aquicludes). The majority of deep aquifers are classified as artesian because the hydraulic head in a confined well is higher than the level of the top of the aquifer. If the hydraulic head in a confined well is higher than the land surface it is a "flowing" artesian well (named after Artois in France).

A special type of water well may be constructed adjacent to freshwater lakes or streams. Commonly called a collector well but sometimes referred to by the trade name Ranney well or Ranney collector, this type of well involves sinking a caisson vertically below the top of the aquifer and then advancing lateral collectors out of the caisson and beneath the surface water body. Pumping from within the caisson induces infiltration of water from the surface water body into the aquifer, where it is collected by the collector well laterals and conveyed into the caisson where it can be pumped to the ground surface.

production or pumping wells, are large diameter (greater than 15 cm in diameter) cased (metal, plastic, or concrete) water wells, constructed for extracting water from the aquifer by a pump (if the well is not artesian).

A well constructed for pumping groundwater can be used passively as a monitoring well and a small diameter well can be pumped, but this distinction by use is common.

Before excavation, information about the geology, water table depth, seasonal fluctuations, recharge area and rate must be found. This work is typically done by a hydrogeologist, or a groundwater surveyor using a variety of tools including electro-seismic surveying,geophysical imaging.

Shallow pumping wells can often supply drinking water at a very low cost. However, impurities from the surface easily reach shallow sources, which leads to a greater risk of contamination for these wells compared to deeper wells. Contaminated wells can lead to the spread of various waterborne diseases. Dug and driven wells are relatively easy to contaminate; for instance, most dug wells are unreliable in the majority of the United States.

Most of the bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi that contaminate well water comes from fecal material from humans and other animals, for example from on-site sanitation systems (such as pit latrines and septic tanks). Common bacterial contaminants include enteroviruses, and hepatitis A and E. Parasites include microsporidia.

Chemical contamination is a common problem with groundwater.Nitrates from sewage, sewage sludge or fertilizer are a particular problem for babies and young children. Pollutant chemicals include pesticides and volatile organic compounds from gasoline, dry-cleaning, the fuel additive methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), and perchlorate from rocket fuel, airbag inflators, and other artificial and natural sources.

Some chemicals are commonly present in water wells at levels that are not toxic, but can cause other problems. Calcium and magnesium cause what is known as hard water, which can precipitate and clog pipes or burn out water heaters. Iron and manganese can appear as dark flecks that stain clothing and plumbing, and can promote the growth of iron and manganese bacteria that can form slimy black colonies that clog pipes.

The quality of the well water can be significantly increased by lining the well, sealing the well head, fitting a self-priming hand pump, constructing an apron, ensuring the area is kept clean and free from stagnant water and animals, moving sources of contamination (pit latrines, garbage pits, on-site sewer systems) and carrying out hygiene education. The well should be cleaned with 1% chlorine solution after construction and periodically every 6 months.

Well holes should be covered to prevent loose debris, animals, animal excrement, and wind-blown foreign matter from falling into the hole and decomposing. The cover should be able to be in place at all times, including when drawing water from the well. A suspended roof over an open hole helps to some degree, but ideally the cover should be tight fitting and fully enclosing, with only a screened air vent.

Minimum distances and soil percolation requirements between sewage disposal sites and water wells need to be observed. Rules regarding the design and installation of private and municipal septic systems take all these factors into account so that nearby drinking water sources are protected.

Cleanup of contaminated groundwater tends to be very costly. Effective remediation of groundwater is generally very difficult. Contamination of groundwater from surface and subsurface sources can usually be dramatically reduced by correctly centering the casing during construction and filling the casing annulus with an appropriate sealing material. The sealing material (grout) should be placed from immediately above the production zone back to surface, because, in the absence of a correctly constructed casing seal, contaminated fluid can travel into the well through the casing annulus. Centering devices are important (usually one per length of casing or at maximum intervals of 9 m) to ensure that the grouted annular space is of even thickness.

Upon the construction of a new test well, it is considered best practice to invest in a complete battery of chemical and biological tests on the well water in question. Point-of-use treatment is available for individual properties and treatment plants are often constructed for municipal water supplies that suffer from contamination. Most of these treatment methods involve the filtration of the contaminants of concern, and additional protection may be garnered by installing well-casing screens only at depths where contamination is not present.

Wellwater for personal use is often filtered with reverse osmosis water processors; this process can remove very small particles. A simple, effective way of killing microorganisms is to bring the water to a full boil for one to three minutes, depending on location. A household well contaminated by microorganisms can initially be treated by shock chlorination using bleach, generating concentrations hundreds of times greater than found in community water systems; however, this will not fix any structural problems that led to the contamination and generally requires some expertise and testing for effective application.

After the filtration process, it is common to implement an ultraviolet (UV) system to kill pathogens in the water. UV light affects the DNA of the pathogen by UV-C photons breaking through the cell wall. UV disinfection has been gaining popularity in the past decades as it is a chemical-free method of water treatment.

A risk with the placement of water wells is soil salination which occurs when the water table of the soil begins to drop and salt begins to accumulate as the soil begins to dry out.

The potential for soil salination is a large risk when choosing the placement of water wells. Soil salination is caused when the water table of the soil drops over time and salt begins to accumulate. In turn, the increased amount of salt begins to dry the soil out. The increased level of salt in the soil can result in the degradation of soil and can be very harmful to vegetation.

Methane, an asphyxiant, is a chemical compound that is the main component of natural gas. When methane is introduced into a confined space, it displaces oxygen, reducing oxygen concentration to a level low enough to pose a threat to humans and other aerobic organisms but still high enough for a risk of spontaneous or externally caused explosion. This potential for explosion is what poses such a danger in regards to the drilling and placement of water wells.

Low levels of methane in drinking water are not considered toxic. When methane seeps into a water supply, it is commonly referred to as "methane migration". This can be caused by old natural gas wells near water well systems becoming abandoned and no longer monitored.

Lately,handpumps or treadle pumps. Another alternative is the use of self-dug wells, electrical deep-well pumps (for higher depths). Appropriate technology organizations as Practical Action are nowDIY) handpumps and treadle pumps in practice.

A study concluded that of ~39 million groundwater wells 6-20% are at high risk of running dry if local groundwater levels decline by less than five meters, or – as with many areas and possibly more than half of major aquifers

Springs and wells have had cultural significance since prehistoric times, leading to the foundation of towns such as Wells and Bath in Somerset. Interest in health benefits led to the growth of spa towns including many with wells in their name, examples being Llandrindod Wells and Royal Tunbridge Wells.

Eratosthenes is sometimes claimed to have used a well in his calculation of the Earth"s circumference; however, this is just a simplification used in a shorter explanation of Cleomedes, since Eratosthenes had used a more elaborate and precise method.

Many incidents in the Bible take place around wells, such as the finding of a wife for Isaac in Genesis and Jesus"s talk with the Samaritan woman in the Gospels.

For a well with impermeable walls, the water in the well is resupplied from the bottom of the well. The rate at which water flows into the well will depend on the pressure difference between the ground water at the well bottom and the well water at the well bottom. The pressure of a column of water of height z will be equal to the weight of the water in the column divided by the cross-sectional area of the column, so the pressure of the ground water a distance zT below the top of the water table will be:

where ρ is the mass density of the water and g is the acceleration due to gravity. When the water in the well is below the water table level, the pressure at the bottom of the well due to the water in the well will be less than Pg and water will be forced into the well. Referring to the diagram, if z is the distance from the bottom of the well to the well water level and zT is the distance from the bottom of the well to the top of the water table, the pressure difference will be:

where R is the resistance to the flow, which depends on the well cross section, the pressure gradient at the bottom of the well, and the characteristics of the substrate at the well bottom. (e.g., porosity). The volume flow rate into the well can be written as a function of the rate of change of the well water level:

The above model does not take into account the depletion of the aquifer due to the pumping which lowered the well water level (See aquifer test and groundwater flow equation). Also, practical wells may have impermeable walls only up to, but not including the bedrock, which will give a larger surface area for water to enter the well.

Peltenburg, Edgar (2012). "East Mediterranean water wells of the 9th–7th millennium BC". In: Florian Klimscha (ed.), Wasserwirtschaftliche Innovationen im archäologischen Kontext. Von den prähistorischen Anfängen bis zu den Metropolen der Antike. Rahden/Westfalia: Leidorf: 69–82. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

Galili, Ehud; Nir, Yaacov (1993). "The submerged Pre-Pottery Neolithic water well of Atlit-Yam, northern Israel, and its palaeoenvironmental implications". The Holocene. 3 (3): 265–270. Bibcode:1993Holoc...3..265G. doi:10.1177/095968369300300309. S2CID 130032420.

Chang, Mingteh (2012). Forest Hydrology: An Introduction to Water and Forests (3rd ed.). CRC Press (published November 1, 2012). p. 31. ISBN 978-1439879948.

Du Preez, Michael. "ELECTRO-SEISMIC SURVEYS APPLIED TO MODDELING OF GROUNDWATER FLOW SYSTEMS" (PDF). Bloemfontein, South Africa. Retrieved 21 April 2011.

Meulemans, C. C. E. (1987-09-01). "The Basic Principles of UV–Disinfection of Water". Ozone: Science & Engineering. 9 (4): 299–313. doi:10.1080/01919518708552146. ISSN 0191-9512.

For regulatory purposes, the Indiana well drilling statute defines ground water as "water occurring beneath the surface of the ground, regardless of location or form" (Indiana Code 25-39-2-10).

Many people think that ground water collects in, and is withdrawn from, underground lakes and rivers. True underground rivers-water-filled caves, for instance-are rare. Most ground water exists in small pores between rock particles and in narrow fractures in rock formations.

The well drilling statute defines an aquifer as "any underground geologic formation (consolidated or unconsolidated) that has the ability to receive, store, and transmit water in amounts sufficient for the satisfaction of any beneficial use" (Indiana Code 25-39-2-10). Consolidated aquifers exist in bedrock formations, such as sandstone, limestone, and shale. Unconsolidated aquifers consist of loose material, typically sand and gravel deposited by rivers or glaciers.

Ground water does not stay in one place. Gravity causes ground water to flow downward and outward. Porosity-the size and number of void spaces in the formation-determines how much water can be stored in an aquifer. Permeability-the ability of water to move through void spaces-indicates how quickly the water will travel through the aquifer.

Unconsolidated aquifers usually transmit water more efficiently than bedrock aquifers. Ground water flows easily through the spaces between loose sand and gravel particles. Water wells drilled into sand and gravel aquifers are often very productive.

Water flows out of pores and through fractures in consolidated bedrock aquifers. Productive water wells drilled into bedrock penetrate aquifers in fractured limestone or shale, or porous sandstone. Unfractured limestone, and non-porous formations such as shale or siltstone, are likely to be dry.

You can call the Division of Water and ask a staff geologist for assistance. When you phone our office (317-232-4160 or toll free 877-928-3755), tell the customer services representative that you need ground water information. Please be ready with information that will help the on-call geologist locate your area of interest, such as the county, address, and nearby major roads.

* More than 400,000 Indiana water well records are available online in the Water Well Record Database. You can search for records of existing water wells near your area of interest if you know the township, range, and section for your tract (e.g., Township 16 North, Range 3 East, Section 31). This information is in county plat books and on some local property tax bills. You can also search for water well records using the water well web viewer which is a map based version of the water well record database. To learn more about using the well record database, use Database search help.

Ground Water Resource Reports and Maps may be accessed by county or by type of map or report, for example: Aquifer Systems Maps, Potentiometric Surface Maps, Ground Water Atlas, Ground Water Bulletins, etc. Please refer to the Ground Water Assessment Maps and Publications (by county) page.

The Division of Water has compiled limited ambient ground water chemistry data for several river basins. Refer to the Division of Water Publications list, catalog #108. This data can be purchased on CDs.

There are many online sources for water quality information. The Purdue University Extension Service offers several publications about home drinking water problems, testing, and treatment.

The DNR Division of Water does not investigate water contamination reports. The Division does not have jurisdiction when ground water or surface water is contaminated. For water contamination concerns and information, please contact the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Office of Water Quality:

Indiana"s water well construction standards were established in 1988 by the Water Well Drilling and Pump Installer Law (IC 25-39) and the associated Water Well Construction Rule (312 IAC 13 pdf file). Many of the standards are aimed at preventing ground water contamination.

Generalized water well componentsCasing and Screens-Wells must be equipped with at least 25 feet of casing that is at least two inches in diameter. Boreholes in unconsolidated formations would collapse if not cased. Where bedrock is close to the surface, wells may not need 25 feet of casing, and the Division of Water may allow shorter casing by variance. Well screens are required in wells finished in unconsolidated aquifers (sand and gravel). Openings in well screens admit water into the well and keep rock particles out.

Location-Surface water must drain away from the finished well casing, and the casing must extend at least one foot above ground level (this extension is sometimes called a riser). If the well is located in a designated flood hazard area, the finished casing must extend two feet above the 100-year flood elevation. Furthermore, water wells must be located as far as possible from high-capacity water wells and known contamination sources, including septic systems. These standards reduce the chance of well and aquifer contamination from floodwater, ponded surface water, human and animal wastes, and chemical spills.

Grouting-The annular space of cased boreholes must be grouted when the well is completed. The annulus is the gap between the outside surface of the casing and the drilled borehole. Filling the annulus with watertight materials-i.e., grouting-prevents surface water contamination from penetrating water-bearing formations in the well. Typical well grouts are neat cement, and slurries and particles of commercial bentonite clay.

Plugging-Abandoned wells and dry holes must be plugged or sealed. If left open, abandoned water wells provide a channel for surface water contamination to pollute water-bearing formations.

Equipment Not Regulated-The Indiana well drilling statute and rules do not regulate pipes and electrical connections between the well and the building, or well-related equipment such as pressure tanks inside the building. In accordance with Rule 312 IAC 13 submersible pumps must be installed at a depth to allow for 25 feet of drawdown in a well completed in unconsolidated deposits, and 50 feet of drawdown in a bedrock deposit. The pump must also be set deep enough to allow for drawdown caused by pumping and by seasonal water level changes.

Water well drillers are required by law (IC 25-39-4-1 and 312 IAC 13-2-6) to keep an accurate record of each well and to submit the record to the Division of Water. A landowner can ask the driller for a copy of the well record as a pre-condition to drilling the well. A well record must include the following information:

If you believe that a well driller installed your well improperly, contact the DNR Division of Water for assistance. When you phone our office (317-232-4160 or toll free 877-928-3755), tell the customer services representative that you want to speak to the Water Rights & Use Section.

Generally, water wells installed since 1988 must have a capped extension of the casing or pitless adapter unit sticking up at least one foot above ground level. This riser (as it is also called) will be steel or white PVC and should be easy to see, unless the previous owner has hidden it with shrubbery or a lawn ornament. Many wells drilled before 1988 were also equipped with pitless adapters and had exposed risers.

Some older wells were completed in a pit or covered with dirt and are not visible at the surface. Locating these wells may require digging with a shovel or backhoe. Water well records rarely show well locations in relation to buildings. One option might be to hire a private contractor experienced in locating utility lines to trace the water service pipe from the house to the well location.

According to 312 IAC 13-3-2 (Rules for Water Well Construction and Pump Installation) a water well must "use every natural protection" to maintain the quality of ground water encountered during well construction. The well must also be located "as far as practicable" from any known contamination source. Neither IC 25-39 or Rule 312 IAC 13 specify separation distances between new water wells and contamination sources. However, the Indiana State Department of Health regulates on-site sewage disposal under Rule 410 IAC 6-8.3 and requires that a new septic tank or soil absorption system to be located at least 50 feet from a domestic water well. Required separation distances for septic tanks, dosing tanks, lift stations, and soil absorption systems from various types of wells, ponds, lakes, reservoirs and property lines are set forth in Section 57 of Rule 410 IAC 6-8.3. Contact your local Health Department for additional information regarding required separation distances, or to determine if a well ordinance exists for your county or community.

A person may not be a water well driller or water well pump installer in Indiana without a license issued by the DNR Division of Water. To qualify for a water well drilling or pump installer license, a person mustbe at least 18 years of age;

furnish statements from three references, two of whom are water well drillers, pump installers or licensed plumbing contractors familiar with the applicant"s work experience, and professional competency;

pay a fee of $100 for the initial license, and a $100 renewal fee each year. Licensed water well drillers and pump installers must also complete six hours of approved continuing education every two years.

The Division of Water sends applicants a free packet that includes study materials (the Indiana drilling statute and rules), forms, and an information sheet. The Division usually offers five exams during the year – once during the Indiana Ground Water Association’s annual conference and at the Government Center South in Indianapolis in February, April, June, and August.

A well driller must keep an accurate record for each well drilled and submit a copy of the well record to the DNR Division of Water within 30 days after completing the well.

The Division of Water can provide a list of all licensed water well drilling and pump installation contractors in your region. Always hire a licensed driller or pump installer. Licensed drillers and pump installers have passed a competency exam administered by the Division and are responsible for meeting Indiana well construction standards. Future well owners should compare prices and services before selecting a contractor. Make sure you have a signed contract covering matters such as charge per foot, materials, dry holes, and damage caused by drilling operations. Home improvement contracts are required by IC 24-5-11 for residential work exceeding $150.

Indiana water well drillers are required to submit a well record to the Division of Water within 30 days after completing a well. This well record is a state form and includes location, well depth and diameter, amount of water produced during the pumping test, and geologic materials encountered during drilling. Ask your water well driller for a copy of the well record and insist that the driller promptly send the required form to the Division of Water. A record of your water supply is crucial information for you and for future owners of your property.

Well drillers are required to fill out a one-page record (State Form 35680) for every well. Well records in the Division of Water are public records, and are used for water resource and environmental evaluations. They compose Indiana"s largest database of shallow sub-surface geology. Information from the records is in a searchable online database. The Division retains the original paper records and stores record images on CD-ROM.

A high-capacity well is a water well capable of pumping at least 100,000 gallons of ground water per day (70 gallons per minute), regardless of how much water is actually pumped. A well with this much pumping capacity would also be classified as a significant water withdrawal facility (SWWF). SWWFs must be registered with the DNR Division of Water (at no cost), and water withdrawals from them must be reported annually.

Generally, no permit is required for a high-capacity water well (unless located within the Great Lakes Basin of Indiana); however, it may be necessary to register the well as a significant water withdrawal facility (SWWF). A SWWF includes any combination of wells, surface water intakes, and pumping apparatus that supply, or can supply, at least 100,000 gallons of water per day to a common collection or distribution point. A person who owns such a combination must register those facilities as a SWWF with the DNR Division of Water. The facility must be registered within three months after it is completed. For more information, consult the Non-rule Policy Document, Registration of Significant Water Withdrawal Facilities.

State statute IC 14-25-4 is known informally as the "ground water rights law." It protects owners of most small-capacity water wells from significant ground water withdrawal facilities. The law defines a significant ground water withdrawal facility as "the ground water withdrawal facility of a person that, in the aggregate from all sources and by all methods, has the capability of withdrawing at least one hundred thousand (100,000) gallons of ground water in one (1) day." One hundred thousand gallons per day equals 70 gallons per minute. High-capacity ground water users may be industries, irrigators, public water supply operators, or quarries. To be protected from a nearby significant ground water withdrawal facility, a small-capacity well must satisfy one of the following criteria:The well must be a properly functioning domestic well drilled prior to January 1, 1986.

If completed after December 31, 1985, the well must be constructed in accordance with rules set forth in 312 IAC 12 Water Well Drilling and Ground Water. These rules require certain minimum pump depths in domestic wells, and they specify how much of the source aquifer must be penetrated.

If your well no longer furnishes its normal supply of water, and if you suspect that the well is being affected by a nearby high-capacity ground water user, submit a written complaint to the director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources by email at water_inquiry@dnr.in.gov or the address provided below. The DNR Division of Water will make an on-site investigation. If the investigation finds evidence that nearby high-capacity pumping has substantially lowered the water level in your small-capacity well, and your well is protected by statute IC 14-25-4, the high-capacity user can be declared liable and may be required to provide you with an alternate water supply.

If you have questions about IC 14-25-4 or 312 IAC 12, contact the Division of Water, Water Rights & Use Section (317-232-4160 or toll free 877-928-3755).

An abandoned water well is potentially a conduit between the ground surface and an underground aquifer, a water-bearing layer of sand and gravel or porous or fractured bedrock. Ground water can be contaminated if floodwater, farm wastes, or spilled chemicals are able to flow down from the surface through or around the casing of an abandoned well. To limit ground water contamination, the 1988 Indiana water well drilling and pump installation statute, Indiana Code 25-39, requires abandoned wells to be sealed at the surface or plugged with impervious materials. Plugging prevents the migration of gases, liquids, and solids up or down the well. Detailed requirements for plugging are in Rule 10 of the well drilling regulations in the Indiana Administrative Code, 312 IAC 13.

Time of non-use is the usual way to define an abandoned water well. If the original purpose and use of the well have been discontinued for more than five (5) years, the well is considered abandoned. A well is also abandoned, by definition, if it is in such a state of disrepair that using it to obtain ground water is impractical or a health hazard.

The statute requires a well to be plugged within one year after it is abandoned. Under the statute"s definition of abandonment, this could be nearly six years after use of the well was discontinued. The Division of Water urges well owners who decide to discontinue use of their wells to plug them immediately (this is not necessary for temporary non-use due to real estate transactions or part-year residencies). Many well drillers offer to plug an old well after they install a replacement well.

No state law administered by the DNR Division of Water requires a well owner to abandon a water well after the property is connected to a public water supply.

Although Indiana law makes well drillers responsible for proper well construction, the owner of land upon which an abandoned well is situated is responsible for having the well plugged. If the well was abandoned after January 1, 1988, the effective date of the drilling statute, a licensed water well driller or pump installer must be employed to plug the well. The driller or pump installer will send a record of the abandoned well and plugging procedure to the Division of Water.

Neat cement is a mixture of cement and clean water in a ratio equivalent to 94 pounds of cement and no more than six gallons of water. Bentonite is a clay derived from volcanic ashfall deposits that swells when wet. It is mined in the western U.S., mainly in Wyoming, and is available in bags from well suppliers. Specific combinations and amounts of these materials are required for different types of abandoned wells (see Rule 10 of the well drilling regulations in the Indiana Administrative Code, 312 IAC 13).

The well drilling statute requires all abandoned wells to be sealed or plugged; the method depends in part on the abandonment date. Determine or estimate when use of the well was discontinued. If the well was abandoned before January 1, 1988, it may be sealed at the surface by a watertight welded or threaded cap. Old hand-dug or large-diameter wells abandoned before January 1, 1988, may be covered with a reinforced concrete slab or a reinforced, water-repelling wooden cover. Sealing of pre-1988 abandonments does not have to be done by a licensed well driller or pump installer and may be done by the property owner. The Division of Water urges those who discover old wells to have them plugged in accordance with the standards for recently abandoned wells. They may employ a licensed well driller or pump installer for this job or do it themselves after consulting the Division or the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service. Extension Publication WQ 21 (1995), co-written with the Division of Water, is helpful for property owners who want to plug old abandoned wells.

A well that is not equipped with casing must be plugged by the driller within 72 hours (three days) after drilling is completed. Some dry holes produce so little water that no casing is installed in the borehole and no yield test is performed. Others have the pump and casing removed after an unsatisfactory yield test.

What should be done about an unusual well or cistern that is not described in Rule 10 of the well drilling regulations in the Indiana Administrative Code, 312 IAC 13)?

The Division of Water will advise property owners and well drillers or pump installers on plugging methods that fit unusual circumstances and closely approach the requirements of Rule 10. Preventing ground water contamination by effective grouting and plugging of wells is one of the most important goals of the well drilling statute and rules. The Division believes that devising a workable method to close an abandoned well is better than leaving the well open.

Based on my recent experience, whatever you do, don"t purchase one of the portable well drill rigs sold by hydra-jett (or hydra-fab as they are also known). In case, their manufacturing is shoddy, the rig I purchased was defective out of the box and they don"t stand behind their product. As my experience suggests, their "warranty" "guarantee" and "return policy" are meaningless. I recently purchased their 6.5 HP boremaster drill rig which turned out to be a worthless piece of junk. Moroever, hydra-jett has refused to offer any restitution or refund -- despite them proclaiming they warranty, guarantee and provide a refund within 10 days.

What"s wrong with this rig? The short list would be that the machining was poor. The packing was deficient, and their guarantee, warranty and return policy are meaningless words. The frame and mast columns were out of alignment which prevented the drill head (motor) from exerting sufficient pressure to actually drill more than 2 feet!

Four holes that were to have been pre-drilled weren"t drilled at all. One of the key welds which held the "foot" of the rig together failed. The swivel seal leaked like a sieve and the screws holding the cheap chinese made winch to the mounting plate sheared off! The drill bit was machined so that it was about 5 degrees off, which combined with the shaft of the swivel also being off by about 5-8 degrees, causes the drill stem to deflect and wobble.

In my case, Hydra-jett refuses to stand behind their product and honor their "warranty" and their "guarantee". If my experience is any guide, should you have problems with their products, they will refuse to credit you even after you"ve gone several extra miles to get their shoddy equipment to work, and despite multiple phone calls and documentation. Their rep, Mr. Tim King will deny any and all responsibility and assure you that nothing like this has ever happened. He will forget conversations you had with him and simply deny that your problems are real and suggest you are making things up.

says they will refund within 10 days "less shipping" provided the equipment HASN"T BEEN USED! But how can you determine if it works if you don"t use it?

Now I"m stuck with a useless bunch of junk, out not just my $2,400 purchase price and $250 shipping, but several lost days and expenses involved in trying to fix and repair the thing. It"s going to take about another $1,000 - $1,500 of repairs to fix the out of square drill head frame and mast. Plus I"m going to have to buy another couple hundred dollars of decent drill bits because their"s are off by about 5 degrees. This will cause even get the drill head to actually drill more than 2 feet.

If you are looking for a decent portable drill, expect to pay about $6,000 - $15,000 for something that you can count on to actually work. But based on my experience, don"t expect it to be built by hydra-jett. Or, build you own with plans from drillfab. Others I would recommend for purchase are the LS 100/200/300 line from Lone Star Bit, and possibly the Portadrillmini from Midwest Machinery. Even so, be sure you get an unconditional guarantee that if it doesn"t work they will refund your money.

There are obviously many things to consider when drilling a well. You should first consider why you want to drill a well. Is it for drinking water? Irrigation? Could you supply your drinking water needs with rainwater catchment? This will be MUCH cheaper and maybe even better quality than a well (or at least more predictable quality assuming you don"t live near a coal power plant). You never really know what the water will be like once you poke a hole in the earth, it could be full of salts or some micronutrient contaminant like iron or lead, naturally occurring. Of course the water quality determines if its potable and if its good for irrigation. If you are irrigating then you will either need a good well or a pond, or both. Depending on what you are growing and how much area, irrigation can take A LOT of water (think acre feet = 326K gals). Most crops take about 1-2 acre feet of water/acre/year to produce with no summer rainfall.

If you decide that drilling a well is the way to go then continue reading.... First, as many have suggested, site your well (ie water) with either a geological survey or a dowser, or both. The depth of the water and the substrata will determine what method you use, the most common being a rotary drill with mud slurry or cable pull. If the water is any deeper than 300 ft or drilling through rock, you will most likely need to hire a well contractor to drill your well, as the rig would be far too expensive to purchase unless you wanted to go into the well drilling business. Definitely a good idea to check with a local well drilling contractor to just ask about the quality and depth of water in your area before gearing up to drill yer own well or paying for one.

(We recently commissioned the drilling of a 1000 ft deep well on a new farm project in Ventura Ca. It cost about $100K and will need 3 phase power to pump fossil water up to irrigate sub-tropical crops in a Mediterranean climate. Sounds kinda silly, but that is farming here in California. I don"t know how I fell about it, as I think the way to go is dry farming, but we are retrofitting an existing avocado orchard so it kinda had to be done or else we would have to continue watering with chloramine domestic supply.)

But speaking of shallow wells, I have drilled a 60 foot deep well with LifeWater International (Faith based NGO) with a team of 4. You can download their manual for Shallow Well Drilling here: (http://www.lulu.com/shop/lifewater-international/shallow-well-drilling/ebook/product-17386472.html). We used the Lonestar LS200 5.5 hp rotary drill rig with a Honda power plant from drilling into hard clay in Southern California. It worked like a charm. (http://www.lonestardrills.com/water-well-drills/mechanical-series/ls200/)

If you think you could have a shallow aquifer it may be a good investment, especially if you share it with a few folks. I think they are around $15K new. Why not have multiple wells to ensure one doesn"t run dry? Once you have the rig they are pretty inexpensive to set up (of course depending on how deep, ie how big of a pump you need). Shallow wells are the way to go if you can get to the water and your demand isn"t much more than 5 gpm/7000 gpd. This water can be recharged much faster than water from 500 plus ft deep. Or, what about a shallow well drilling WORKSHOP!?!

Power supply for the well pump is another very big consideration in drilling your well. Most well pumps can run on solar unless you are down 800 ft plus, then you may need 2-3 phase (or phase conversion), and a 5-15 hp plus pump. Check Sunpumps for solar well pumps, or Grundfos. If you are lucky and your water table is higher than 24 ft (or you hit an artesian aquifer) you can have a hand pump or windmill with a suction pump. You cannot "pull" water up from more than 24 ft deep as the weight of the water breaks the water column. My stepfather has drilled about 5 wells in Ojai Ca with a super old and funky version of the Lonestar rig, and has made windmills out of scrap to passively pump/suck the water (at 14 ft deep) to all parts of the property.

By the way, the job of the drilling mud is to be so viscous that it removes the tailings from the bore hole, pushing them up as the mud is forced out of the bore by the pump. This means that you need a heavy duty mud pump (10 HP plus), one that has an impeller and not a diaphram that can pump a thick mud made from bentonite clay. The mud is pumped into a mud pit where the tailings fall out before being re-injected into the bore hole by the pump. One mud pit that has enough volume to accompany the amount of mud you will need to fill your bore hole is all you need.

Its all in the Lifewater manual if you want to get into it (I am not religious BTW). I love the concept of drilling your own well actually. Its really not that difficult (depending on your situation of course...)

The land drilling market worldwide is structured primarily as a rental market, not a sales market, where land drilling companies lease their rigs to E&P companies for an agreed period of time – weeks, months, or years – at a day-rate. The rigs are then used to drill wells and execute the E&P’s drilling programs.

Drilling opportunities are analysed and explored in order, leaving a series of dry holes, until a discovery is made. It is rare for an E&P company to actually own the rigs which they operate, but there are some exceptions such as Chesapeake, who will purchase their own fleet of rigs.

Investors require a minimum level of return for their investment dollars in drilling operations, and typically equate cost with risk. These turnkey drilling contracts may limit risk by guaranteeing a minimum number of wells that can be drilled with the rig. The contract will also outline how the rig can be used – including the pieces of equipment, when to change pieces, temperature and pressure tolerances and the weight of mud.

The International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) lists 547 members in the category of Land Drilling Contractors. According to Statista, the key US land drilling contractors are: Nabors Industries Ltd, Helmerich & Payne Inc, Patterson-UTI Energy Inc, Precision Drilling Corporation and Pioneer Energy Services Corp.

Nabors operates the world’s largest land drilling rig fleet, with around 500 rigs operating in over 25 countries – in almost every significant O&G basin on the planet. It also has the largest number of high-specification rigs (including new AC rigs and refurbished SCR rigs) and custom rigs, built to withstand challenging conditions such as extreme cold, desert and many complex shale plays.

Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, H&P is a global business with land operations across the US, as well as offshore operations in the Gulf of Mexico. It is engaged primarily in the drilling of O&G wells for E&P companies, and recognised for its innovative FlexRig technology.

Patterson-UTI operates land based drilling rigs, primarily in O&G producing regions of the continental US, and western Canada. The company also provides pressure pumping services to US E&P companies and specialist technology, notably pipe handling components, to drilling contractors globally.

Precision is an oilfield services company and Canada’s largest drilling rig contractor, with over 240 rigs in operation worldwide. The Company has two segments. The Contract Drilling Services segment operates its rigs in Canada, the United States and internationally. The Completion and Production Services segment provides completion and workover services and ancillary services to O&G E&P companies in Canada and the US.

Pioneer operates a modern fleet of more than 24 top performing drilling rigs throughout onshore O&G producing regions of the US and Colombia. The company also offers production services include well servicing, wireline, and coiled tubing services – supported by 100 well-servicing rigs, and more than 100 cased-hole, open-hole and offshore wireline units.

Together these five companies dominate the US rental market. Other smaller but prominent contractors include: Parker Drilling, Unit Corp, Independence Contract Drilling, Seventy Seven Energy, Schramm and Ensign Drilling. Beyond these players, the market is highly fractured, with many “mom & pop” style drillers.

In Texas, generally considered to be the centre of US land drilling, RigData reports that there are currently 678 active rigs – split between Helmerich & Payne (160), Patt