Mike and his crew from B & H Well Drilling rolled up in three big trucks at nine this morning and worked like Hebrew slaves all day. (I don’t think they stopped for lunch)
The big drilling truck is a monster. This one was purchased sometime around 2007 at a cost of around $400,000. A new one today would run you about a million bucks.
When complete, the well will be something over 600 feet, although the steel casing and pump won’t be down that far. I’m fuzzy on this point but the water table is somewhere around 200 feet and the pump will be below that and can be lowered further if necessary.
The hole they spent all day drilling will be lined with a steel casing. These are 21 feet long and before each one is lowered, it has to be welded to the previous pipe. A tedious process, indeed. And everything that goes into this well –steel casing, PVC pipe, the pump, wiring… everything, has dramatically increased in prices-per-foot.
The crew will return tomorrow and — barring any problems– should finish drilling. Once the pump is in and working all of this has to be fed into our plumbing. Stay tuned.