water well drilling opinions needed

[don4140]

Hello all, I have most parts needed for drilling my own well. Most wells in my area are in the 130 foot depth range. Most small drilling rigs use 5' lengths of pipe for drill stem. I already have a lot of 1" id and 1.312 od of NPT threaded pipe. The problem I foresee is the failure of the drill stem due to the npt threading, or the inability of freeing the joints at withdrawal. I cannot baby the rig in a way to avoid the stress on the stem and joint couplings. I am thinking of making box and pin ends to place on the end of each pipe section and weld them on. What thread type would you use in this endeavor. I have viewed mayhew jr, and other types, but don't really know what might be best. It must have strength, the ability to uncouple sections after use and easy on a guy who hasn't threaded on my Hendey Lathe in 30 years. She is a 14" x 102" with taper attachment, etc.

Ideas? Thanks, Don

 

[Garwood]

Ideas? Thanks, Don

130'- Pay a well driller or buy a real drill rig and sell it when your done.

 

[Bill D]

Tread very carefully. What laws allow you to drill as well and use the water. I assume you are under Spanish water laws. So drilling a well may not give you rights to pump water out of it if anyone downstream is using water. I am not really sure how spainsh water laws treat wells.
BilL D

 

[jscpm]

Drilling rigs are no joke. Good luck trying to build one.

 

[jim rozen]

What are you going to use for casing?

 

[dalmatiangirl61]

I've been down this road, unless you are planning to drill multiple wells, its just not worth it. IIRC Mayhew sells the threaded couplers, you weld them on, can you make them cheaper? For 130 ft a cable rig could easily do the job, either with a dedicated rig, or redneck style . Hmm, can't find that vid, it was some Texas guys, iirc they had a tripod over the hole and were using a car/truck to pull cable, then letting a 4ft length of 8"pipe drop down the hole, sketchy but worked, search YT long enough and you might find it.

Laws on well drilling in Tx are lax, no license required.

And at 130ft it most likely not going to be potable water.

What type of soil, clay, sand, or hill country limestone?

Here it is

 

[Bill D]

Use your 3/4 pipe and jet it.
BilLD

 

[don4140]

130'- Pay a well driller or buy a real drill rig and sell it when your done.

Well when you pay a driller, you are paying for the hole, and if they don't hit water, you get to pay for another hole. My curiosity was about the quality of npt threads in this situation. Thanks

 

[don4140]

Tread very carefully. What laws allow you to drill as well and use the water. I assume you are under Spanish water laws. So drilling a well may not give you rights to pump water out of it if anyone downstream is using water. I am not really sure how spainsh water laws treat wells.
BilL D

Not sure about the spanish laws situation. In Texas we do have the right to drill and pump on our own property. Don

 

[don4140]

What are you going to use for casing?

4" pvc casing is typically used for a 6" reamed hole. My concern is the drill stem strength and NPT threads.

 

[michiganbuck]

I need a well at my hunting property, but the drop pipe likely would not work because of a gravel layer and the what they call hard-pan at about 20 feet.

 

[don4140]

I've been down this road, unless you are planning to drill multiple wells, its just not worth it. IIRC Mayhew sells the threaded couplers, you weld them on, can you make them cheaper? For 130 ft a cable rig could easily do the job, either with a dedicated rig, or redneck style . Hmm, can't find that vid, it was some Texas guys, iirc they had a tripod over the hole and were using a car/truck to pull cable, then letting a 4ft length of 8"pipe drop down the hole, sketchy but worked, search YT long enough and you might find it.

Laws on well drilling in Tx are lax, no license required.

And at 130ft it most likely not going to be potable water.

What type of soil, clay, sand, or hill country limestone?

Here it is

Have you made your own rig before? My plan was to make the couplers myself if the threads on the pipe were inadequate. Drilling results in my part of Texas has potable water in the 100-140 foot range. I have sand and clay ground. Most reports say the same about the surrounding wells. Thanks

 

[don4140]

I need a well at my hunting property, but the drop pipe likely would not work because of a gravel layer and the what they call hard-pan at about 20 feet.

This will be a rotary drill with mud pump. This will be my first attempt. Been looking at doing this for some years, but never had the need until now. Since i have 90% of the supplies needed, I just as well give it a shot. I'll give my family something to laugh about at the very least

 

[john.k]

The steel cased well beside my house is over 150ft deep and was drilled by an old neighbour with a churn drilling rig on the back of a 1914 White solid tyred truck........the rig was mostly wood framed ,and took about 3 days to do the hole with chisels and bailers ......top layer is sand ,then sandstone pebbles ,then a carboniferous shale ,under the shale a coarse ironbound sandstone...........a more recent (90s) hole was drilled with a giant truck mounted rotary which was there under one day ,including casing and certified flow testing..........back in the millenium drought (2000-2010) the city council issued me with a order to cease and desist and cap the wells ...........which I ignored.

 

[GregSY]

I don't see why the laws of Spain would apply in Texas....

My well in Houston is 221'. I think in Houston you can drill just about anywhere and hit water...so the fear of a dry hole is not that great.

My parents' house, near Austin, had a 67' deep well and the water was 100% potable.

Drilling your own well? Probably only slightly less troublesome than performing your own kidney stone operation.

 

[dalmatiangirl61]

Have you made your own rig before? My plan was to make the couplers myself if the threads on the pipe were inadequate. Drilling results in my part of Texas has potable water in the 100-140 foot range. I have sand and clay ground. Most reports say the same about the surrounding wells. Thanks

No, but I did collect a lot of parts to build one, all still back at the yard in SM, maybe some day I'll revisit that project, maybe. My plan was to mount a triple stage forklift mast on the back of a truck, with hyd rams to lay it down in transport. For drill stem I was going to use real drill stem, but cut and rewelded in 8' maybe 10' lengths, the leftovers would be used for fence posts. I did drill 2 starter holes, one by warehouse, another by house, I forget 10' maybe 12' deep, sleeved with 12" pvc. From the people I talked to, all said it would most likely not be potable due to ag chemicals and septic systems in the area, my main concern was water for warehouse so we could have a sink and flush toilet, not to drink. Warehouse is rented, tenant pays the water bill, and within the next 10 years it will all be bulldozed for a strip center,mall, who knows what, so I'm not worried about it anymore.

Some of the small rigs use npt threaded pipe, might be ok in sand, your mileage may vary in Houston black gumbo clay, or gravel if you can hit it.

 

[jim rozen]

It you're using 4" PVC make sure you can get a pump that fits in there.

 

[john.k]

Drilling gets tricky when the drilled hole grabs your pipe drill stem............long auger sections dont have this problem ,and have plenty of power to crash thru ,but you r gonna need a DTH hammer if you strike hard rock .........and you surely dont want to lose a $10k hammer.

 

[idacal]

I do this for a living, if you already have the swivel just try it ahd see 140 is pretty deep with 1” pipe your flow restriction with a 35 psi trash pump and any viscosity increase in the fluid is going to be just a few gallons a minute. The threads depends on the torque load of your rotation power. Mayhew junior is way overkill unless your pushing reall torque

 

[Bill D]

I don't see why the laws of Spain would apply in Texas....

Most western states water rights are based on preexisting Spanish laws. As they became states the existing property laws were grandfathered in.That is why California was the first state that allowed women to own property in their own name. There would have been a riot if the new state confiscated all the propetties owned by women. Ever heard of Boudica?

In Spanish water law you do not own the water on your land. it belongs to who first started using it. If they are downstream you must allow that amount of water to flow down to them. You can not catch downspout water and prevent it from soaking into the ground to recharge streams.
Sure lots of folks ignore these laws but get caught and pay big fines maybe go to jail. 100 years ago you might get shot.
Water laws in the East are very different they are based on British law that assume it rains enough that wells do not run dry and crops grow without irrigation. They are based on the idea that water is abundant and never ending. Impossible to use it all up
BilL D