When starting the daunting task of getting a water well for your home or business, the question that always arises is “where will we find water”? This is the point where most of us look to the internet and then the professionals. But how much do well drillers really know about finding the best spot to drill? There is a vast array of different methods used in the water drilling industry.
The difference between the techniques used is incredible. There are actually many well drillers out there that still rely on the time honored tradition of witching. More commonly known as dowsing, even experts in the field have no idea how it works, but it does, sometimes. Still, it’s a hard pill to swallow when you get the bill for an expensive dry well because the guy with the stick walking in the field didn’t find the water.
Some well drillers do use more technical means, though the success rate is similar. These companies can use a combination of data to try and accurately predict where the water is. This data can include such sources as other wells in the area, USGS ground water maps, satellite imagery, historical data from the area, and even growth of area vegetation. On the surface these methods clearly have merit. In a good many instances they will find some sort of water. The problem is how much water are they going to find? What is the size and location of the aquifer? You can make all of the educated guesses that you want, but when it comes to $30 – $50 dollars per foot in drilling costs, you want to know with a greater degree of accuracy.
There are a few well drillers out there that are a little more honest in their advertising. One in particular that calls it a guessing game. Then go into describing how that can look at geological formations in the area, and vegetative growth, but in the end they say that really does not guarantee anything so we will make a good guess, and we get it right some of the time. It’s astounding that you would put your money behind a well driller with that motto.
When it comes down to it, the only way to really know where to drill for water is to know where the water is before you drill. The best method for this is a groundwater survey. When compared to the cost of a well driller’s inaccurate guess, it makes a ton of sense to add this step into the process. It will save many costs in the long run. Some of the major savings will be because of the data you can provide to the well drillers about the size and volume of all of the water under your property. When you actually sit down and look at the stats of well drillers’ success against the cost of a survey, it’s a no brainer. The advancements in the water finding industry are here. Use them, and add more to your savings account.
Know where the water is before you drill! To save time and money, contact American Water Surveyors at:
Call: 877-SEISMO1 (734-7661) or 817-788-5716
Fax: 817-210-4225
Email: [email protected]
