WHAT TO EXPECT

Drilling a water well is a new experience for most of our New Hampshire and Maine water well customers including the process order and major cost factors. This quick primer will help you understand the process of drilling a gravel/screened or Artesian/Bedrock water well.

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The biggest question in drilling a well is "how much is a new well going to cost?" The answer depends upon a few key variables.

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The "big three" costs of drilling a new well:

1. Total depth of drilling (feet) needed to reach reliable water.

2. Total depth of casing (feet). Casing is 6" steel pipe set into bedrock to stabilize the portion of a water well above solid bedrock. In many cases, bedrock is within 100 feet of ground level but bedrock could be as much as several hundred feet from the surface. 

3. Water well yield (gallons per minute) and anticipated usage (gallons per day). Most adults use 100-120 gallons of water daily. Other needs may include irrigation, guest houses, hot tubs and even multi-head showers. We always make honest recommendations to help you make the most informed decisions about your well yield requirements.

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Potential Additional Costs

1. Mudding – When the rock underneath your property is too porous to support a stable borehole or truly solid bedrock is far from ground surface, mudding is necessary to solidify the area around the hole and involves circulating natural bentonite clay in the drilling hole to solidify well shaft walls.

2. Grouting – Grouting is often required by law for wells drilled within close proximity to a property line, septic system or public road. The process involves injecting an environmentally-safe gel around the well casing exterior as a further means of sealing the well from its surroundings.

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Initial Phone Consult

Our first step is learn more about your water needs. Key questions include:

1. Is this for a residential or commercial property?

2. Where is your property located?

3. What is your existing water situation (poor well, no well, not enough water, etc.)?

4. Will this drilled water well be for new construction or an existing structure?

5. Is there enough space for our water well drilling trucks which are up to 40' long?

6. How soon are you looking to drill a new water well?

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We’ll do our best to check nearby water well depths and yields as well as distance to bedrock. This information often indicates your potential costs, but each property is unique and results may vary significantly from nearby drilled wells. In fact, we've seen water wells drilled just 30 feet apart differ dramatically in depth and water yield.

Site Visit

Typically, before you choose Hartley Well Drilling as your water well contractor, we conduct a site visit to plan well location including distance from septic system, property lines and your residence or business.

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Contract

Once you smartly choose Hartley Well Drilling as your water well driller, you'll sign a simple contract outlining pricing, drilling date and other relevant details.

 

Drilling Your Water Well

On the day of drilling, we’ll set up a water well drilling rig and a road truck that feeds water to the rig and carries casing and drilling rod.  These are very large trucks and we may need to trim a few trees to make room for our rig’s 50-60’ truck mast, but we do our very best to minimize our impact on your property.

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As mentioned above, we do not know in advance how deep your well will be.  However, we will consistently and diligently update you concerning well depth and flow.

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Installing Your Water Well Pump System

After we finish drilling your water well, we’ll run heavy-duty polyethylene sanitary piping from the well to your water well pressure tank.  We also bury a separate protective conduit for electrical wire from your in-well pump to your well control box. 

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Inside your home or other structure, we install a water pressure tank, piping and electrical controls.  We always try to re-use existing equipment in good working order though installing entirely new equipment is often the best way to protect your well pump investment.

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Deposits and Payments

A fully-refundable deposit is required when you sign a contract for Hartley to drill your new water well. In the unlikely event that after submitting a deposit you decide not to move forward, we will return your deposit "no questions asked." If we proceed with drilling, Hartley Well retains the deposit and later invoices you for any drilling costs beyond the deposit amount. Full payment is due within 30 days of completing your well. Please note that we do not offer financing or payment plans.

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Respect

The Hartley Well Drilling crew prides itself on respect, honesty and uncommon courtesy in communicating with customers and caring for your property.  This commitment is a big reason why our main sources of business are word-of-mouth referrals and repeat customers.