Has Your Well Run Dry? Here Are 3 Reasons Why It's Better To Drill A New One Instead Of Drilling Your Existing One Deeper
Posted on: 23 December 2020
If your well is no longer able to provide adequate water to your home, you've probably considered drilling it deeper. Drilling services can clean old wells and drill them deeper in order to gain access to aquifers deep under the soil. It's typically less expensive than having a new well installed, but deepening a well does carry some potential risks. Unfortunately, the risks often outweigh the reduction in cost. To learn three reasons why it's better to have a new well drilled on your property instead of deepening your existing one, read on.
1. Drilling Deeper Doesn't Guarantee Better Water Access
When deepening an existing well, the best outcome is either drilling further into the aquifer it's currently in or drilling into a new aquifer. With access to more groundwater, your well will be rehabilitated and your water will be restored. However, that's not guaranteed to be the result of deepening a well. The drilling service may drill through bedrock fruitlessly without finding access to another aquifer at all.
A new well isn't absolutely guaranteed to find water, either, but the chances are much better. Drilling services use geologic surveys to determine where to site the well in order to access an aquifer under the ground. Having the freedom to place the new well wherever you want on your property increases the chances that you'll be able to find a steady supply of water after it has been drilled.
2. Older Wells Often Can't Be Deepened Safely
If your well was drilled decades ago, deepening it may be unsafe or impossible. Regulations for well drilling weren't as strict in the past, so older wells often have numerous problems. The well may have been accidentally drilled at an angle, making it impossible to deepen safely, or it may be too narrow. When you deepen a very old well, you risk collapsing the well and ruining it. Having a brand-new well drilled will avoid these problems.
3. New Wells Come With a New Casing, Making Failure Less Likely
Another downside of continuing to use an old well is that the casing may have corroded. Corrosion is a common reason for old wells to fail. When the casing first starts corroding, you'll notice sediment in your well water. If the corrosion continues and the structure of the casing begins to fail, the whole well can collapse. A drilling service can inspect the condition of your casing with a video camera in order to determine if it's about to fail. If your casing has significant amounts of corrosion, then it's better to have a new well installed with a new well casing.
Overall, deepening a well can be the right choice when you have a new well that's recently run dry and you're trying to save money. However, you'll still have to face the risk of not finding any new access to water after deepening the well. The safest choice is always to call a drilling service and have them construct an entirely new well on your property rather than deepening an existing one.
For more information, reach out to a company like Russell Well Drilling.
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