It has been two years since we have turned on an indoor tap and saw water running out. It will probably still be a few months before that is a reality. Today was a good day. We woke up at 6 am and tottered around our RV like any ancient being in their mid-thirties and late forties would, according to our six year old, then called the well drilling company to see how close they were. Ten minutes was
the reply. Our digital camera batteries were fully charged and raring to go and after bundling up in our layers of winter clothes for the brisk ten degree windchill, out we went to greet them. It took midday for our camera to catch on that today was the ninth of February 2012 and not the 8th, poor thing.
We were not expecting to see such massive trucks. The space I had cleared in what will eventually be our front garden looked miniscule. The well drillers greeted us with enthusiasm, popped out with shovels and quickly moved our three blueberry bushes and one lone rhododendron out of
the way. I briefly wondered if they might perchance do a bit of gardening. I laboured over moving just one of those plants with it's frozen soil.
The drill was up and running by nine, with it's drill tower reaching further up than our utility pole. I tried not to look up at it with all those clouds moving about as the illusion of it swaying in the breeze made me quite queasy. Vertigo really does suck. The noise was also very loud, not deafening, just loud and you could feel the ground vibrating through your feet. We received an estimate for an eighty foot well, water was struck at sixty feet then another twenty feet were drilled to ensure it was perfect.
We don't retain oil or mineral rights in this state so even though we pretended we struck oil, we were
perfectly happy they did not as we really do not wish to move or whatever happens when you do not own oil rights. There was one barrier that was put up around the drill site and we soon found out just how messy it is drilling for water. The barrier, which was already filled with excavated dirt from the hole was now flooding with water and turing into mud. A second barrier quickly went up utilising my garden edging stones as temporary weights. Those edgers sure are versatile, aren't they?
The casings were prepared soon after with some welding to do what naught. I have no idea what the naught was, then installed in the well and sealed with casing seal. I initially thought the bags were cement until I read the sides. They added a contraption at the top of the well which reminded me of There Will Be Blood since it had that wheel like thing on top. There was a piece of casing which was welded off and leveled in a way so the water began to pour out of it. Can you believe I ran out of batteries on our digital camera right when it was gushing like a broken water main? I had to run inside for my spare duracell and charge the lithium ones. I did not succeed in getting the "gusher" shot as I think of it, though I did get a "steady flow" shot.
After that, the well was capped and out the drill truck went before the casing truck backed up, turned around and followed. Until tomorrow when a trench will be made, pipes will be laid, a water tank installed, perchance a water pump if it's not in there already and eventually a standpipe. Our job is to build a room around the water tank and provide a heater to keep it well insulated, or so I have heard.
Either way, we will keep you posted with blog posts and pictures. There are so many of them I'll just have to pick the most relevant ones.
Recent Comments