How To Find A Site For Water Well Drilling On A Property

In the business of water well drilling, every project initially boils down to a single question. Where are you going to drill?

Depending on the nature of a property, this could be a simple or complex problem. How do you find the right place to sink a well? Providers of water well services encourage their customers to consider these five solutions for selecting your drill site:

County Registry

Whenever people do exploratory work on a property, they're supposed to enter their findings into the county's property registry. There's a chance that someone has done exploratory work on your property before and bumped into a water deposit. For example, a previous owner might have put in a gas well and run into water during the exploration process.

Although it's far from a guaranteed solution, checking the county registry is cheap and quick when compared to other options. Likewise, you'll need to do it anyway, in case a deposit overlaps the property line. If so, you'll need the information to deconflict usage rights with your neighbors.

Geography

Well service providers also tend to look at the geography of a property. The reason is simple; water flows downhill. Oftentimes, water deposits collect in underground locations that can be predicted based on your land's topography, which can make finding good spots to drill easier. Even in a mostly flat region, a slight grade can encourage the development of a deposit.

Geology

The ground underneath your drilling site is also important. Some rock and soil formations are very friendly to water deposits, and others just will not allow water to collect. Well service providers can drill to see what kind of rock is present, and note any locations with potential. If the geology seems especially unfavorable in one area, they can take samples elsewhere.

State and Federal Databases

Your tax dollars pay for a lot of research into the hydrology of where you live. It's a good idea to take advantage of surveys from the USGS and state agencies to identify where you might drill a well.

Plants

Particularly in dry regions of the country, plants can tell you where there might be water. Look for a location where trees, bushes, or grass seem to be growing without any source of water like a stream or pond. The plants might be getting their moisture by putting down roots. Even in an area that is wet for most of the year, you may spot areas where plants thrive during the dry season.

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