Drilling for Water at Hazlewood

What do you do if your private well dries up and there seems little prospect of it improving anytime soon? Well, you can drill a deeper well but how do you go about doing that? It's not obvious at any time but this dry summer has increased the demand to such an extent that firms are booked up months ahead and have stopped advertising! Below is the story of how Mrs Clark of Hazlewood did it.

Mrs Clark 'phoned around and talked to a number of firms before selecting Ken Scot, who's Business Card reads:

KEN SCOTT
PUMPS & WATER TREATMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIVE SERVICES LISTED

Head Office: Silverhillocks, Gamrie, Banff, AB45 3EL
Tel: 01261-833666 Fax: 833311 Mobile: 07967-009181
Proprietor: Ken Scott

* The Complete Water Supply Consultancy
. Hydrogeological Surveying & Water Divining
. Borehole Drilling for Home, Farm, Factory
. Pump Supply & Installation (all types)
. Water Quality Analysis
. Water Treatment & Filtration
. Iron & Manganese Removal
. pH Elevators & Water Softeners
. Domestic & Industrial Ultra-Violet Sterilisers

I (Dave McWilliam) went along to Hazlewood to observe the work and to ask Ken Scott to outline how anyone wishing to have a well sunk would proceed. What he said was this:

"Things normally start with the proprietor telephoning me to get some idea of what would have to be done and how much it would cost. I then visit the premises and use water divining to locate a suitable underground source. Usually the water is found flowing through fractures in the rock and the technique is to locate a suitable water-filled fracture and drill down to it. In some areas, such as here at Hazlewood, it is deep gravel rather than rock, which is good and will produce a lot of water. Of course, divining isn't always successful because if there is no water there I can't find it. However, in the majority of cases there is plenty of water, although it might be hundreds of metres down."

"Once a suitable location is found, I call in Raeburn, which is an excellent family-owned firm that carries out drilling for water, geothermal systems and geological surveys. They drill a vertical shaft about 10" in diameter to whatever depth is required to reach an adequate source of water. As they drill through the softer material, earth or gravel, they insert a steel liner tube that fits tightly in the hole to stop the material falling in and blocking the hole. When they reach a depth where there is plenty of water they stop drilling, remove the drill and insert a 4" diameter porous plastic pipe down the hole. The drillers then leave and I trim off the steel liner pipe to just below the surface and fit a steel collar and thick plastic lid. A submersible pump is then lowered down the plastic pipe and its electrical connection and outlet pipe taken out through the plastic lid."

"A pressure tank is fitted in a suitable location and the pipe from the pump and a pipe to the house are connected to it. This tank is initially filled with air and in normal operation the pump switches on automatically and pumps water into the tank, compressing the air, until an upper preset pressure is reached. The pump then stops and water can be used until the pressure in the tank falls to a lower preset pressure. At this point the pump automatically starts and re-pressurises the tank."

"If the tank is fitted in a location that might experience frost, a thermostatically controlled electric heater is fitted near it to ensure the water in the tank doesn't freeze. The pump and the tank heater is each powered from a 13Amp socket. Normally any electrical work required to provide the two 13A sockets is carried out by a local Electrician, and we can arrange that if required. Likewise, the plumbing work required to dig the necessary trenches and connect the tank to the house supply is normally carried out by a local Plumber, which, again, we can arrange if required."

"The costs for the work vary depending on the depth of drilling required and the hardness of the rock to be drilled. An easy well like the one here at Hazlewood, which is just 18m down through gravel, will have a total cost of about £3,000. If it's 200m down through granite it might cost five times that much. Nobody can be really sure how deep the water is located, nor what the material will be like, until they drill but a good diviner will be able to make a fair guess at the depth and the likely flow."

Some Pictures taken at Hazlewood.

The drilling outfit consists of two Mercedes Unimog trucks, a towed air compressor and a trailer. The large, six-wheeled Unimog carries the drilling rig and tows the trailer. The smaller, four-wheeled Unimog is the support vehicle and wows the large air compressor.

When drilling, a 3 metre length of hollow drilling rod is connected to the drive and the drilling head (which costs a cool £4,500) is attached to it. There are holes in the drilling head and compressed air is blown down the rod and out the holes to blast out the earth, mud, rock and water. If the ground is earth, gravel or sand a steel liner tube is fitted over the drilling rod and is drawn down the hole after the drill head. The drill rod and head rotate but the liner doesn't.

Every now and then the compressed air ejects the muck in great gouts, covering a wide area with mud. And, yes, it can be a bit dirty for the drillers!

When the 3 meter drill rod has reached its limit, the drill rod is disconnected and a further 3 meter length of rod connected to the drilling drive. A 3 meter length of liner is slipped over the new length of rod.

The rod and liner are winched up and screwed into the rod(s) already down the well. The new liner is mated to the one already down the well and the joint welded. Then the drilling continues. This process is repeated as many times as is necessary to reach the water.

The information from the douser and from archive geological information has given the drillers a pretty good idea of how deep they will have to drill and what the rock/gravel will be like. However, they can't be certain until the amount of water being blown out by the air pressure shows that they have reached an adequate source. At that point they stop drilling and pull up the drill, removing each 3 metre drilling rod as it clears the surface. The winch mechanism lifts the drill and the upper of the two big clamps holds the next rod whilst the top one is unscrewed.

The blue plastic perforated tubes are then lowered into the well one by one, joined together by screw threads.

The drilling rig is then lowered over the truck cab, the drillers depart and the well is left ready for the next phase of the operation.

The liner pipe is cut to length and a metal collar bolted to it. The long pump is connected to its electric supply cable and the exit water pipe and is lowered inside the perforated pipe. The collar has a thick plastic lid through which the electrical supply to the pump and the exit water pipe are brought. Later an outer pipe and cover are fitted to seal off the well.

The pipe from the pump is brought from the well to some convenient location, in this case a nearby shed, and connected to a special pressurised water cylinder. This cylinder is full of air and as the pump operates it fills up with water, squeezing the air in the process. When the air pressure in the upper part of the cylinder reaches a preset level the pump switches off. As water is used, the pressure in the tank falls until it reaches a lower preset level the pump restarts. A heater might be needed to prevent the tank from freezing in the winter.

All the plumbing work associated with digging the trenches and laying the necessary pipes was carried out by Gordon Stuart, Drummuir.

Please note that we are making no recommendations as to the efficacy of using drilled wells of this sort nor of the firms involved.  However, if you are having difficulties with your water supply you may wish to consider this method as a possibility.