A2O-Lanas ter Farming, Saturday, December 12, 1992
Proper Well Construction First Step In Water Quality
(Continued from Pag* A 18)
groundwater contamination later
on especially from surface
water, according to Ressler. The
key is overall management, which
begins first with proper
construction.
Hear about nitrates
“It seems like whenever you see
a story on wells in a newspaper or
something, you hear about the con
tamination and the high nitrates
and all the other problems,” said
Ralph Myers, of Myers Brothers
Drilling Contractors, Inc. in Salun
ga. “Actually, there are still quite a
number of hand-dug wells and
springs thqt use water that is very
close to the surface. It seems to me
that it’s the same old story’— bad
news is more popular than good
news.”
Myers said there are “tens of
thousands” of “perfectly good
water wells out there, and even if
there are some slight problems
with that water, I like to believe
that in almost any water well, the
quality of the water is going to be
better than, say, Susquehanna Riv
er water.”
Nearly 10 percent of Myers business involves
drilling wells for farmers. Even though most of
the work involves drilling for commercial wells
and private residences, Myers has drilled wells
for farmers who have had nitrate problems. But
most of the business involves drilling wells for
farmers who need an additional, or backup, sour
ce of well water. And of those new wells drilled,
a commonplace, important test that Myers uses is
for nitrates.
“If a farm may have a nitrate problem, we’ll
test for nitrates and try to dig deeper for better
water,” Myers said. “Some areas are so honey
combed ... the bedrock is so honeycombed that
even though you can install a lot of casing in the
well, you still might have high nitrate levels. But
I can point to quite n few now that we’ve been
able to improve the existing nitrate level.”
Most of the work, he said, is for additional
water. ‘They’re putting in a new hog operation,
or they’re increasing their dairy herd. It’s not
enough just to have only one water well on the
farm. In a lot of places, they wanta backup water
well.”
Myers warns that nothing about well drilling
“is black and white. You can’t say this is the way
it is. But in general, the little aquifers, the little
crevices and cracks that allow water into the
well, are smaller the deeper you get down into the
bedrock. So until you have enough water for your
operation, the wells will average somewhat
deeper than they did when people were using the
water closer to the surface.”
Deepest drilled
Typical wells are drilled to about 150-200 feet,
although Myers has drilled to 300 feet, and in
some cases 500-600 feel. The deepest they have
drilled is to about 1,000 feel.
Myers employs the following procedures
when drilling:
• A site is selected. Normally, when possible,
the site is isolated from barnyard and herd areas,
and is located on hilly, nonfarmed ground. The
farhier must take other factors into considera
tion, such as keeping the site at least 100 feel
from a manure storage or pesticide mixing and
storage area.
• The drilling rig is placed and leveled at the
site. A 9- or 10-inch bit is mounted to the drill and
worked into the ground until competent bedrock
is found.
• Next, a casing, of polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
or steel is centered into the hole to the bedrock.
The casing is “plum and centered.”
• A 6-inch bit is mounted to the drill and drill
ing continues. The drill sinks to a level unul
water is reached. If adequate water is not
obtained by 300 feet, Myers asks the customer to
talk over his options. Depending on conditions,
Myers said they either encourage the customer to
dig deeper or move to a new location.
• When a measurable flow is found, air is
pumped into the well to lift the water to the sur
face, where it is collected and run through a pipe.
The water flow is checked with a stop watch and
a gallon bucket. A water sample can then be
taken on site to test for nitrates.
• If the flow is adequate at this
point, the well is developed for a
period of time to clear all cuttings
from the well. If cement grouting
is not required, at this time Myers
fills the space between the ground
and the casing. The drill is then
removed and the well is ready for
the pump installation.
Throughout the process, the
water flowis monitored until both
Myers and the customer are
satisfied.
“The most important point in the
water well is where the casing
meets the bedrock,” said Myers.
“It’s important that this area is sea
led that no water can transfer
from the surface into the under
ground area that you want to use
for your water supply.”
The use of plastic PVC or steel
casing depends on the bedrock
steel will “give” a little with the
contour of the rock. But in softer
formations, PVC may be better
because the rock will conform to
the shape of the PVC.
Neoprene baffles or packers are
available as an extra precaution to
more fully seal the casing.
The More Things Change...
The More They Stay^\
VAN DALE Dependability through Quality |
Division of J-STAR Industries, Inc.
J-STAR Industries, Inc.
. 801 Janesville Avenue
Fort Atkinson, W 153538 U.S.A.
414-563-5521 (Phone) 414-563-2494 (FAX)
“The most dependable wells are
the wells that come in deeper, too,”
said Myers. “The first wells to suf
fer in a drought are the springs and
the hand-dug wells and the real
shallow-drilled wells they’re
the people we get calls from.”
The drought of 1991 pointed to
the need for deeper wells. Many
dried up for lack of water, and
Myers had a busy year. “We had
calls this year from people that had
water problems. This is also a good
year... we have been busy every
minute.”
Myers and others in the industry
emphasize the importance of per
iodical well water testing to see if
the water quality is changing.
“If water quality is deteriorat
ing, it may be more practical to
drill a new well,’’ he said.
“It’s probably a good idea for
someone to have their water
sampled and analyzed for basic
potability, and it doesn’t cost a lot
of money,” said Myers. “It’s prob
ably a good idea to do that at least
annually, or semiannually just
get in the habit of doing that That
way you know if your water qual
ity is changing as time goes on.”
\\e
ed nutrients into this well, according to Clark Stauffer. The
levels of nitrates have returned to near normal.
Change for the sake of change is rarely worthwhile. But change
for the sake of growth is an essential part of doing business.
The Van Dale® line is now stronger than ever, and positioned to
grow and prosper thanks to I-STAR and Van Dale joining forces!
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assured: the Van Dale product line is better than ever!
Some things will never change!