About Water Well Drilling Methods

Country living means quiet, peaceful living, but it can also mean forfeiting modern conveniences such as being close to shopping, and even being connected to city water.  The lack of a city water line does not necessarily mean that you cannot build a home there.  Consider drilling a well.

There are a number of ways to go about drilling for water.

Air Hammer Drilling

Compressed air is shot into the drill hole, the force of which breaks up rock and dirt.  The force of the air will also shoot the loose dirt and rock out of the drill hole.

Auger Drilling

A spiral auger, usually about 5 feet in length, is turned which creates a hole using a corkscrew like motion.  The groove in the auger carries the loosened dirt and rock up to the surface as the hole is created.

Hand Driving

Begin with a post hole digger, and create a hole as deep as possible.  Follow up with a weighted driver in order to drive casing into the ground.  Under ideal conditions, hand driving should only be done when there is 40 feet or less to go in order to strike water.

Jetting

Shoot high velocity water into a hole in order to break up the ground in instances where the ground is mostly sandy.  The water travels through a chisel-shaped bit, which has holes in it.  The water cleanses the drill bit as the work is performed, and also helps break up the ground further.  The final benefit to the water is that it washes the loosened material up to the surface of the hole outside of the drill pipe.

Percussion Drilling

This method works by dropping a drill attached to a cable into the drill hole.  Once in the hole, the drill head rotates with each drop in order to maintain a circular hole.  Each drop creates an impact, which breaks up any clay and rock in the ground.  Loosened debris is mixed with water, and then removed using a bailing device.

Rotary Drilling

This is a common method used for oil drilling.  A bit is attached to the end of a pipe, and additional pieces of pipe are attached as the hole is drilled deeper.  Extra weight is applied to the bit using a stabilizer, which helps to keep the drill hole straight.