Thursday, July 1, 2010

New Well Part 2. July 1st 2010

Phew, what a huge drill - now in the upright position.

The Well Story Continues

So they well men came back on Tuesday morning and what a noisy machine they were operating! Basically they drill the depth of one drill, then put the lining pipe down, then add another drill, then more pipe lining. I went out to them while they were having their lunch break and asked if it was going ok. 'Not very good so far' one of them said. AAAH! 'But we'll get it sorted' said the other.

Our existing well is about 60 - 70' deep. We kept seeing them join on yet another drill, then another. I reckoned we'd have larva coming up from the earth's core!!


The drill going down.


Look at all that dust! The plants in the old rockery are inches deep in dust! Bits of rock spouted out too. The upright section on the left holds 7 of the drills. They used all of these and one from the lorry. Unbelievable.


In this photo, you can see the rock being sprayed out from the hole.

Deeper and deeper they went until:


Eurika! Water... Can you see it? Mixed with the mud, rock and shale, it made a wonderfully slimy river down the drive:


Here I am watching the sludgy water come out.


Oh yuk! See the big pile of 'stuff'? We have to move that by Saturday, when Oliver returns to connect up the pump.

Luckily it's been raining since teatime and is due to continue overnight. It'll help clean the plants and wash some of the sludge away.

Can you even imagine how deep the new well is? It's 180 feet deep! They hit water a long way before that depth but wanted to make sure it was deep enough to hold much water and therefore shouldn't dry out. They finally went about 5ish, leaving the rig behind. That was picked up this morning and off they went to their next job.


That is water pouring out. By the time they stopped work, it was running quite clear.

Wimbledon

Federer was knocked out today but Andy Murray has now reached the semi-finals. Unfortunately he plays Nadal next. I'm not sure he can beat him but you never know. I did a large pile of ironing while I watched tv, so I felt at least a little bit virtuous.

Right, that's it for today. Hopefully on Saturday some water might actually come out of our taps!

9 comments:

Jason said...

Wow, thats looks amazing. I reckon I'd like a construction blog..lol

180 feet, amazing. Water soon hopefully!

I reckon Murray can do it, he needs to play the right way and go all out, but well within him. Fingers crossed.

xx

Rachel Green said...

How exciting!

Lisa at Greenbow said...

That is a long way down. You might even get tea from china with that depth. I hope you have water soon. I can't imagine not having water. UGH.

I hope that Murray wins too. Nadal doesn't always play to his best ability. Murray has improved tremendously in the past year or so. So unless he would be playing against Andy Roddick (who I think is out) I will be rooting for Murray too.

BT said...

Hi Jason, a construction blog would be fun!! Water Saturday hopefully!

Yep, I think Murray could if his mindset is right.

Hi Rachel, it was indeed!

Thanks Lisa. It's definitely Nadal v Murray so thanks for your long distance support! xxx

Heather said...

Good job they didn't strike oil! But it could have made you a fortune I suppose. Lovely to have your own supply of clear water. I shall cheer for Murray.

BT said...

I wouldn't have liked an oily mess Heather!! Mind you, the pennies would have come in handy. Come on Andy! Water should be connected up on Saturday. Bliss.

Lynn Cohen said...

yureka! We yell. Water is here! Bravo. Big job!!!!

BT said...

lol, thanks Lynn.

Boo, Murray lost.

DK said...

wow, that looks amazing! ~laughs~ Just seen Jason's comment... snap!

Stunning though, truly, 180' deep, just wow!!!