Can You Drill Your Own?

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[3] Is it cheaper? At current prices,if you buy all the equipment you need for drilling and casing one 100 foot well from DeepRock (excluding any special bits), youhave to spend $1,304 ...or $13.04 afoot.However, the gear for every subsequent 100feet—at the same or a new well site—costsonly $286 ...forthe extra stems and casing. (A single 200-foot well, then, would cost$1,590 in supplies, or $7.95 a foot.) The nationalaverage for professional drillingabout $10 to $12 afoot. Since the rate variesgreatly (it's as low as $3.00 a foot in partsof Florida, about six or seven bucks in our area,and as high as $42 or $49 in parts ofCalifornia or Alaska), you'll have to makeprice comparisons for yourself.

Remember, though, that all such calculations assume your labor is free. Drilling takes a good amount of effort and time. Indeed with the Hydra-Drill, you have to cut the entire hole twice: once with a "pilot" bit, and the second time with a 'full-size reamer. And whenever you have to use a coringbit,you'll be pulling and resinking all your drill stems every two feet! Also, you'll end up with a 2"-diameter well ...while a commercial driller would probably give you a 6" wide hole. This means you'll have to use a more expensive jet pump, rather than the more common submersible one. On the other hand depending on the licensing requirements in your area, you may be able to recoup much of your outlay by drilling wells for other

In sum, we'd say that if you've madesure drilling conditions are favorable ...if the cost of doing it yourself is competitive with commercial drilling charges (or if commercial drillers can't make it onto your property) ...and if you have the necessary time proper aptitude for the mechanical tasks involved, you may well want to drill your own well.

You decide!

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