Contents:

1. Description

Water wells are sources of life. They go back thousands of years and represented, and still represent, mankind's potable water resources. Known and used for thousands of years, water wells are crucial for any civilization, as shown by USGS.gov.

Stable and reliable sources of drinking water, just like the watercourses (rivers), water wells have evolved over the centuries.

2. Types; Classification; Equipment

There are three main types of water wells: dug wells, driven wells, drilled wells. Dug wells (hand-dug wells) are rather large excavations lined with laid stones or brick. Driven wells are created in unconsolidated material with a well point hammered into the ground. Finally, drilled wells are created using top-head rotary style, table rotary, and cable tool drilling machines that cut in the formation.

An image is worth a thousands words, so here is the difference shown side by side (image credits - http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/earthgwwells.html - copyright USGS) :

Also, there are two drilled-well types, based on the type of aquifer the well is in: shallow wells (unconfined wells) and deep wells (confined wells). The shallow wells are completed in the uppermost saturated aquifer, whereas the deep wells are sunk through an impermeable stratum into an aquifer that is contained between two impermeable strata.

Based upon the property and its location, water may already be running to that particular property or the owner of the property needs to pay in order to put a water well on the property. When the property requires a fresh supply of water, or a new supply of water, there are several types of water well equipment one needs to consider.

However, there are mandatory legal provisions when in comes to the water well equipment used, and also guidelines one should consider to find out whether the water well was properly completed (applicable for Indiana, but, most likely, every state has similar ones).

Because soil is not the same everywhere, different water well equipment is manufactured to work in different types of soil conditions.

Water well equipment and accessories include: water well pumps and parts, tank fittings, pressure tanks, resins.

One of the largest manufacturers of water well equipment is Ingersoll Rand; other manufacturers are Schramm, Chicago Pneumatic, Driltech

3. Jobs

The main job in the water wells is the driller one (the driller helper is only a trainee, not yet fully qualified and experienced to work as a driller).

A water well driller normally needs a water well drilling license; lack of such licence usually means the driller is not qualified to perform any work. Those interested in becoming water well driller should inquire about the drilling licence to their local/state government offices. Please be advised each state has its own requirements, thus the terms for obtaining the water well drilling licence may differ from state to state.

Indirect jobs (though related to the water well drilling industry) are those for drivers, sales agents, mechanics and so on. Usually, the water well driller not only commands the machines, but also is technically skilled to perform repairs and maintenance of the water well equipment.