Water Well Drilling Tips

The Ground

• You'll always run the risk of damage to the pipe if you hit it too hard so softening the ground as much as possible is advised. Dig a hole about five to ten feet deep and let rainwater collect in it is one method to soften the earth. To prevent the hole from collapsing, it is advisable to shore it up or otherwise reinforce it so that it will not collapse during a heavy rain. Depending on the rainfall in your part of the country, this step may take a week or longer to accomplish. Once it rains, the ground will be soft enough to begin hammering the pipe down to the aquifer.

Permits and Location

• Before you choose a place to drill your water well, check with the county where the property is located for regulations and whether a permit is required. Furthermore, the county has information about other wells in the area as well as data about what you will find below the surface. For example, drilling a water well is much easier if there is either sand or silt underneath as opposed to rock or hard clay. For obvious reasons, drill your water well far away from sewer lines, animal pens, and septic systems as each of them will contaminate your water.

Depth

• Talk to one of your neighbors who has a water well about how far he had to drill below the earth's surface to find the aquifer. Also, validate the composition of the subsoil that you must drill through. If there are no wells near your property, you can easily determine how deep a well you will have to dig. If you have little rain, it is likely that trees such as white oaks, hickory or walnut that have long tap roots that are in the aquifer. In most cases, the aquifer is less than 100 feet belong the surface. Thus your water well should be located just outside the drip line of the tree.