How Long Does It Take to Dig a Well
City water supplies can be unreliable. Paying extra water bills every month for water you can’t help but use can be difficult. If you’re tired of concerns like this, it may be time to think about installing a well on your property. You’re bound to have questions about the process – Even if you understand the basics. It might seem like a huge project considering all the moving parts involved. Do you have to wait for a certain season to dig a well? How many days of labor go into digging a well?
The good news is now that you’ve decided on well water, the rest of this process will be pretty smooth and easy. It’ll be over before you know it, too! In this article, we’ll describe the process from start to finish.
Before Digging
Building a well isn’t as simple as grabbing a shovel and digging a hole. You need to do several jobs before the main job of digging. To determine where your well should be built, a surveyor needs to examine your property, local geological records, and environmental data. They can use this information to determine which area of your property will give you the best water pressure and yield. Safety is another top concern, so your well must be situated away from contaminants.
You also have to obtain the paperwork to start digging. A well drilling company like Accurate Drilling will know what permits and licenses you need and how to get them. Next, you will talk with your drilling company to determine your needs and what equipment they need on the job site. This part can take as little as a day and rarely takes more than a week, depending on the situation.
Digging the Well
After you have the site and paperwork secured, the actual labor begins. A five-to-ten inch hole is dug into the ground, usually reaching down about 100 feet. As the machines dig, they feed a casing into the hole. Cement is used for some wells, and sometimes you see PVC casings. The hole is sealed, components are installed, and the process is over in a day or two. However, there can be delays if you have particularly stony or sandy soil that is hard to dig through.
Testing and Treatment Come Next
You have to test your new well before you can use it. Septic systems, nitrates, bacteria, and chemicals can all seep down into the soil. Testing will detect contaminants like these and determine if your well is safe to drink from or not. The testing process usually takes up to a few days, rarely a week. Even if the test comes back clean, you should still purify your water.
Well water is notoriously hard, which can damage your fixtures and well system. The purification process removes many contaminants, and softening the water removes even more. The purification process usually takes around a day to finish.
The Last Steps
After purifying your water, you’re all done. If you’ve followed the steps your testing and drilling professionals discussed, you have an endless supply of clean water now. You can drink it, clean with it, cook with it, and use it to water your property. Next, you may want to update tank equipment or install a pressure regulating system.
No matter what your needs and goals, Accurate Drilling will help you dig the well your family needs. From the moment you visit our website and call us, you can enjoy crisp, clean water in as little as a couple of weeks.
