WHAT TO EXPECT

Drilling a water well is new territory for most of New Hampshire and Maine customers such as the order of operations, major drivers of price and site preservation. This quick primer will allow you to better understand the process of drilling a gravel/screened or Artesian/Bedrock water well.

​

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

​

The three major costs of a new well are:

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

2. Total depth of casing (feet) used. This is directly related to the depth to solid bedrock. Casing is 6" pipe set into bedrock to stabilize the top of your well. 

3. Water yield (Gallons per Minute). A low-yield well usually requires a deeper water well pump setting necessitating larger wire, additional water pipe and a more powerful pump and motor.

​

Other costs can include mudding to stabilize the borehole until reaching bedrock, grouting to seal the outside of a drilled well and a drive shoe to secure casing in bedrock.

​

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?

​

We’ll do our best to check neighborhood water wells for well depths, depth to bedrock including amount of casing used and well water yield. This information often indicates your potential costs, but each property is unique and results may differ significantly from nearby drilled wells.

​

Potential Additional Costs

1. Mudding – When the rock underneath your property is too porous to support a stable borehole or 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 the shaft walls.

2. Grouting – Per state law, if your drilled water well will be a short distance from a property line, septic system or a neighbor’s water well, we will "grout" the along the outside of the water well casing to seal it from the surrounding environment.

 

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.

​

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.

​

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.

​

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. 

​

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.

​

Payment and Financing

Payment is due at the time service is rendered and we’ll payment is expected within 30 days of receiving your water well drilling invoice.

​

Respect

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