Water wells are drilled to access natural groundwater for various purposes, including testing water quality and accessing clean water. Drilling rigs are used to drill precise holes, often aided by geological surveys and maps. Proper sealing is important to prevent contamination. Wells can be used by small communities or individuals in rural areas. Some wells are used for environmental assessments or geotechnical surveys.
A water well is a well dug deep into the earth that connects with natural groundwater underground. Some water wells are designed to test water quality or to perform scientific and geological studies of soil samples at various natural saturation points. More often than not, however, their purpose is simply access to water. Well water is similar to well water in many ways, but is usually cleaner and more easily accessible. The drilling process often includes adding tubing and shaft sealants to protect them from contamination.
Drilling is a common means of tapping into the earth’s innermost resources. Wells are common for a variety of purposes, from routine soil sampling to geological survey and mapping projects, to petroleum exploration and natural gas extraction. A water well is a hole drilled to access the earth’s internal aquifers.
Water wells are different from dug wells in a couple of respects. The first is the use of a rig. There are several types of drilling rigs available depending on the scope of the project, but most are portable and run on a combination of motorized engine, winch drive, and cable pulling system. The drill drills through the earth, directly through boulders, clay, and anything else in its path. Regular drilling or manual digging, in contrast, usually requires more attention in dealing with obstacles.
The rig can usually be programmed to drill a well of a precise size as well. As long as a drill operator knows where the water will be found, he just has to program the rig and wait. This process often requires some planning to be successful.
Many deep aquifers run under the outer crust of the earth. In most places, any hole dug deep enough will hit the water at some point. However, where that water is located can vary tremendously from place to place. Drillers often use geological surveys and maps to calculate the precise location of an aquifer at a particular site.
The main function of a water well is to provide easy access to water. In most cases, the well itself, once dug, is relatively narrow, usually only about the size of a large pipe. This makes it very easy to immediately install a pipe or otherwise seal the hole as soon as drilling is completed. Proper sealing is very important to prevent water contamination.
A water well can be used by small communities or, in some cases, by individuals. Individual access to water through wells is more common in rural areas not served by normal water systems. Wells are usually not large enough to supply entire cities or large municipalities with water.
Not all wells are used to supply potable water. Some are used to test water quality, particularly in communities with water contamination issues. An environmental assessment of the site may include a water well to ascertain the composition of water-feeding plants and nearby vegetation.
A geotechnical survey might also be interested in drilling for water to understand the chemical characteristics of various nearby locations. Setting up a water well is, for the most part, a relatively noninvasive procedure. The rigs are easily transported and the actual boreholes can be quite small.
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