Water wells are essential, especially in rural, urban, and suburban areas. People drill a well to ensure an additional water source. An extra water supply like a well outside the home comes in handy in many ways, from car washing to gardening. But how long does it take to drill a well?
If you wonder about the duration of the well drilling, it’s hard to specify. Because the drilling time either can be less or can be more considering your drilling areas, well types, well depth, and tools. But we can give you an idea of how long can a well drilling take in total. So, let’s begin!
How Long Does It Take To Drill A Well?
When you prepare for well drilling, you have to consider the drilling process to get an idea of how long can your well drilling takes time. Also, the geological condition, for example, thunder, storm, rain, snow, etc, impacts the drilling duration massively. In this case, you cannot specify the drilling time.
Also, you have to consider your drilling tools’ quality. If you use all the high-quality tools, it will faster your process. And when you use expert workers, it will take only a fraction of your desired time length. By the way, we can give an assumed timing of 3 to 5 weeks to drill a well if you work regularly.
Duration of Well Drilling Based on Types
Based on the well types, your drilling will vary. Let’s have a look at different types of well and their drilling duration:
New Well
It takes a bit more time to drill when you drill a new well as you must process everything from the beginning. However, the professionals claim new well drilling takes 3 weeks maximum (21 days). Within these 3 weeks, you can build a completely ready well unless there’s a natural disaster.
Water Well
Building a water well requires a construction process. In this process, you have to dig a well hole and line it with the pipe. When the well construction is done, you’ll have to fill the well with gravel. Typically, it takes 4 to 5 days to drill a water well.
Oil Well
When you go to drill an oil well, it will take days or months, based on the depth. Because it takes quite a few different processes like land clearing and drilling rig setup. The land clearing takes a few weeks, and the rig setup takes a few days.
And then, you can start the drilling process, which takes a few more days. Once the well is completed, production takes a few more months. So, the entire process of drilling and building an oil well takes more than 5 months.
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Duration of Well Drilling Based on Process
Here are some factors considered when calculating the duration of well drilling. But before you start your journey, you must contact the professionals, which will take some time. Here these essential factors are:
- Place Selection
You must select a proper place where installing the well be secure and precise. And, to test this place, you need an expert’s help which can take a day.
- Installation
Once you select the right place, the entire well installation process will take the maximum time. Here every single step of well installation (from depth measuring to equipment fixing) is involved. So, this installation process can take 3 or more days based on the well type and weather conditions.
- Water Purifying
Once the well is built, you have to check out or test whether the water in the well is safe to use. In terms of water testing, it’s necessary to test whether there’s any harmful contaminant in the water, for example, septic leakage, fertilizers, nitrates, bacteria, etc. And, to test all these, you’ll need 3 or 4 days.
After that, the well water needs to be purified to ensure it’s germ-free for human consumption. however, water purifying won’t take 3 or 4 days like water testing. It will take only a day. So, the entire well installation process will take 2 to 3 weeks.
Factors to Consider for Well Drilling
Well drilling process requires different types of rotary and power tools that are extremely expensive. And this drilling process involves many workers. So, you shouldn’t think of money while drilling your well.
Ensure the machines are high-quality and high-end. Also, try hiring professionals rather than just taking some low-paying, unskilled workers. It will faster your drilling process and also deliver a perfect completion.
Some of the machines come with a permanent land structure. If you have a space shortage, you must avoid choosing this equipment that won’t move. Four more essential factors to consider before you drill a well are:
- Cost
- Your budget
- Location, and
- Drilling rules of that particular location
These 4 factors are the fundamental factors to consider. Make sure you know about all the rules and restrictions before you decide to drill for a well.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can heavy rainfall affect the well water?
Yes, the non-stop heavy rainfall badly affects the well water.
What’s the amount of water a well can produce each day?
A well can produce around 1440 gallons of water per day
Can a well run out of water at any time?
It’s rare. Commonly the wells are dug deep so the well water cannot run out.
To Wrap Up
Drilling a well is not a one-step process. It involves several steps in accomplishing the process. So, it’s not possible to state specifically how long does it take to drill a well. You have to consider how much you can invest. The more you invest, the better tools and professionals you can employ to lessen the drilling duration.
Also, the type of your well is another highly considered factor. Depending on the certain type, it can be more or less the time of well drilling. And, finally, what you must consider is the weather condition. Not all regions contain the same weather condition. In this case, your process can be lengthy or less time-consuming based on the weather condition.
