Water Wells

Are you preparing to drill a water well, or an oil company looking for a water source well ? Are you looking for a more reliable technology than dowsing or witching to tell you if there’s any groundwater in the area? No matter if you’re using mud rotary, air rotary or cable tool drilling, Seismic Waterfinder can save you time and money by conducting a scientific groundwater survey before you drill. Don’t risk hitting nothing when you drill your well- survey first.

Groundwater reports are also available to assist with identifying polluted or high saline areas, mapping “problem zones” in major excavation sites and helping to plan water table delineation.

When most people think of finding water for a well they usually think of the traditional art of witching or dowsing, or as the driller usually says “pick a spot, I don’t believe in witching”. Just like proper well construction is key, so is drilling a water well in the right location. People have used various things over time to divine water such as coat hangers, willow sticks, copper rods, steel bars, barb wire, and pendulums before going through the high cost of drilling a water well.

Since drilling can be expensive- usually between 30 to 60 dollars a foot depending on casing and design and the area where you live- people have tried almost anything to avoid drilling a dry well. After drilling a dry hole or considering the cost of drilling a well you might be thinking the same thing a customer said to me this summer: “surely there must be a better way to locate groundwater than a man waving around a stick” and in the era of cutting edge technology there is.

A big question when drilling is “how deep am I going to have to drill, and how many gallons per minute am I going to get?” A low yield water well that only produces 0.5 gallons per minute (gpm) will probably need to have an extra storage tanks or cistern, adding an additional cost of anywhere upwards of $2500. If you need a high yield water well and you get a dry well or a low producing well you usually won’t want  to drill again not knowing how deep to drill. Sometimes while drilling you may get a low yield aquifer and are asked if you want to go deeper to try and find a higher yield zone, but at around $4000 for every 100ft it is not a cheap endeavour.

Have you ever heard of oil companies just picking a spot or witching to find a good spot to drill? Of course not, their shareholders would fire them they need a return on investment. Your precious hard earned dollars need to be well spent too and that’s probably why you are reading this article, to spend your money wisely. You wouldn’t just have the dentist pull a bunch of teeth without doing a thorough examination, usually including an x-ray. We can see the underground water before drilling so you don’t have to waste your money drilling a low yield or dry hole. The seismic technology we use has been proven to provide consistent drilling results across the world.

If you want to know the depth of the groundwater and yield (gallons per minute) before drilling contact us. At each site we test we will provide you with the depth of the aquifer(s) and yield in gallons per minute before drilling so you can be confident in getting a good water source. We have regular runs throughout western Canada but will travel almost anywhere give us a call to see how we can help you find the best location to drill a water well.