"Baby Jessica" Down the Well

So Matt and I caved (hardy har har) and got a Go Pro a little while ago. While it has already come in handy for a few other things, and its time lapse mode should be really fun for when the house starts getting erected, the major motivation to get one came from the well report that said we had caves underground at 110`! Today, we finally decided to see what was down there.

My dad picked up a few flashlights at Harbor Freight that were so cheap it wouldn't matter if they don't made it through our experiment. He rigged up a little contraption with weights, a holder for the flashlights, a mount for the GoPro, and a "guide" made out of 2-liter bottles.

Matt holding "Baby Jessica".

We popped off the cap from the well, and lowered in the camera system (known as Baby Jessica) with much anticipation and no clue whether this would work. I was able to preview the video on my phone for a short time thanks to the GoPro's WiFi, but once the camera went underwater I lost signal, so the rest would remain a mystery until we got the camera out and could hook it up to a computer. Was it even going to work? Would there be enough light from the flashlights to see anything? Is there really anything down there?

Well, here it is: the world premiere video of the mysterious contents of our well:

The first 45 seconds are just the shaft put down the drilled hole, with the bright spot being water. Underwater, you'll see some gunk that we're not sure about; probably either precipitate or an iron bacteria (which is common in water wells and, according to our literature, is harmless). At 2:06 the pipe ends and you'll witness varying limestone formations. Some crazy stuff starts appearing at 2:50, and then we suspect the noted caves begin at 3:06! We hit bottom at 3:40 (but I left the rest of the video on there too because it's kind of interesting to see the water dripping off when the camera re-emerges).

Amazing!!! It was pretty scary to drop Baby Jessica down what seemed to be an endless hole in the ground with no idea what's down there or whether it would all make it back up successfully. But it worked perfectly! And the video is absolutely fascinating. It was really exciting to view the video for the first time and discover what's deep underground. Now that we have a better idea of what's down there and we know the setup works, we will probably stage the whole thing again with the camera mounted sideways so that we can try to see more of the caves!

Well how about that!

A couple days ago I detailed our well drilling experience, but I didn't have a picture of the finished product:

Ta-da.... We have a well!

I also mentioned that we would soon be receiving a well report and additional information from Moravec, which sure enough we received today. While there was some cut-and-dry information, such as well maintenance tips, disinfection procedures, and quotes on pump installations, we were totally caught by surprise by the well record:

• WELL DEPTH:        120'
• GPM:                        30+
• CASED TO:             60'
• HOLE DIAMETER: 6"
• BACKFILLED:        BENTONITE
• FORMATION 1:     0-53' SAND TILL & GRAVEL
• FORMATION 2:     53-110' LIMESTONE - CAVES AT 110'
• FORMATION 3:     110-120' LIMESTONE

First of all, 30 gallons/minute, all right! But, hold everything - does that say "CAVES"?? Really?!

I find this fascinating for two main reasons.... 1. CAVES!!! 2. I wonder how they know that detail? I think it's really interesting that they were able to determine formations and depths to such precision. I wonder what happens during the drilling process that suggests caves? I'm just curious.

But what I'm even more curious about is what it actually looks like down there! My imagination is running wild. I might have to ask around to some plumbing companies that do camera work to see whether going down 110' into a well is something they could do. Or I could look into a GoPro camera, which I know are supposed to be waterproof up to 197' (what a great excuse to finally get one)... Stay tuned on this mystery.

Well done!

Today we got our well drilled! For a while it was actually TOO cold but finally the weather cooperated and the conditions were good enough to move forward. Matt and I only got to witness part of the drilling but it was a fascinating process.

This huge rig started out horizontal and then moved up to a perpendicular position.

The drilling is about to begin. The rig is like a 6-shooter; there
are several ~20'  shafts. As the drill gets down, the holder rotates
and an additional shaft gets added on top to create a longer shaft.

Here you can kind of see the shaft going into the ground beneath the truck.
Below is a video showing the drilling.

Things started to get a little steamy...

Drilling is done; Time to put in the well casing!

Lengths of casing were welded together to get the needed depth.

Before we left the brothers let us know that it was 54' to bedrock, and they drilled a total of 120'. They estimated a 20 gallon/minute flow rate, which is fantastic! My dad called later to let me know that they actually wrapped up not long after our departure. So after $3835 and less than two and a half hours, we have a well! We'll find out more of its details in a couple days when Moravec sends us a folder of information and some quotes on pump installation. They were really friendly and efficient, and we were very happy with their work. So pleased, in fact, that it kind of broke my heart to have to tell them we already have someone lined up to do geothermal work for us (they do some geothermal work, too). But overall, a very exciting morning!

Updated budget:
Cost of well drilling: $3,835.00
Total spent thus far: $31,538.29

Well, how about that.

You may recall that at the end of my post about finding a well driller, I said we had to hope for not too much snow - and, what do you know, the first day of winter rolled around a couple days later and the winter weather came right along with it. A little snow here, a little snow there (including a White Christmas!!), and then we got slammed with about a foot of snow on 12/27. 

Snow accumulation on my parents' deck, 12/27/12

There were additional small accumulations following that, but things have been pretty calm for the last couple days; so calm that my dad drove into the site and was able to drive a few laps without issue around where the well is planned to go. Also, Matt and I spent New Years Eve on a snowshoeing adventure all around the 40+ acres, and although the snow was deep the conditions didn't seem too slushy. So, my dad left a message with Moravec saying that he thought we had the green light.

At 7:30 this morning, we got a surprise call saying Moravec was on their way! Woo hoo! We were all pretty excited to get some real progress under way. I packed snow boots into my car with the hopes of spending my lunch break snapping some pictures of the drilling. However..... come 9AM, the operation was called off on account of mud after all. Sigh. I felt bad for the guys for coming all that way with their big trucks, but I guess they had another place to go in the area, so it wasn't all for naught on their end at least. But, it is still quite a bummer that we couldn't actually drill today. Next we'll have to clean off snow from the site so it will freeze up better, and then we can hopefully get moving. Luckily we're not on a time crunch at this point anyways.

Finding a well driller

Now that we know where the septic system will go, we can get a well installed. As it turns out, the company that drilled my parents' well has sold out to another business. This other company only uses percussion drilling, whereas we were planning to employ a rotary driller*; and, even worse, they also offer dowsing services, which was a red flag for us. Dowsing, as far as we're concerned, is a bunch of baloney - the stuff of Looney Tunes and Smurfs cartoons (I definitely remember Wyle E. Coyote using a divining rod). So, it was time to find another driller.

My dad pretty much took the lead on this, and through some searching found Moravec Water Wells. They sounded much more promising, especially since instead of also offering dowsing services they offer geothermal systems. Although we don't need a geothermal contractor (since we are already going with Roth Green Energy), at least this shows Moravec's priorities line up better with our own. Not only that, but within a few hours of my dad first calling, they were already out to visit the site!

My dad was pleased with the meeting, so it looks like we've got a well contractor. Now we just have to wait a bit for the ground to firm up so that they can get their 34-ton (!) trucks in to start drilling. We have to hope the ground will soon freeze up, without getting too much snow (since the snow will keep the ground pretty insulated and can actually keep things muddy). Hopefully we can get drilling soon, though realistically it's not urgent.

*A note on percussion vs. rotary drilling: Percussion drilling is an old technique that basically repeatedly drops a ram to pulverize the ground and create a hole. After clearing out the sludge, the well casing is pushed and pounded into place. Percussion drilling is cheap, but results in a less efficient well due to compaction and smearing along the sides of the borehole. Also, one of the neighbors got a new well drilled using this method not too long ago, and it noisily pounded along for days. Rotary drilling is just as it sounds: a rotating bit that excavates a borehole. The process is more expensive, but it's faster and allows for analysis and engineering of the well design. Reference