What is Borehole Drilling?
At Dragon Drilling, there’s a few questions we get asked a lot when we talk about what we do – and one of the first ones is ‘what actually is Borehole Drilling?’.
Having worked in Borehole drilling since 2013, we’re of the opinion that everybody should know about them. There’s a whole host of uses for a borehole that can benefit everybody from sciences and engineering to businesses and individuals. Most of the work we do is to provide a sustainable water source or ground source heating for both residential and commercial locations, but boreholes are also used in construction, environmental assessments and more.
Borehole Drilling is exactly as it sounds – the creation of a narrow, deep hole in the ground known as a borehole. There are a few ways to drill a borehole but at Dragon Drilling we use rotary drilling rigs, choosing the best method for drilling based on each location. This is usually compressed air or drilling fluids.
For a water borehole, we’ll need to make sure that there’s a viable water source to tap into. This is an aquifer, a rock that holds water below the surface. The water stored within could have been there for thousands of years, or could be feeding to a stream somewhere else. By drilling into it, the pressure from below enables you to access the water.
Obviously, it’s important to discover where an aquifer is before we drill. Some companies use a Dowser for this, but we’ve found the most success through using our knowledge of geology, searching databases for borehole log details and applying the expertise we’ve learned over the years. This enables us to assess the area and ascertain where the best place to drill is for a reliable, sustainable source of water.
Where we’re based, in North Wales, we’ll usually drill to around 60-80 metres. This is the best depth to reach an aquifer, although depths will always vary depending on the geology of the drilling location.
Once we’ve drilled, we’ll install a pump and a pipe to bring the water to the surface before designing a distribution system based on our customer needs. Then we’ll help you maintain the borehole to keep it as productive and sustainable as possible.
For some expert advice and answers to all your questions, contact the Dragon Drilling team today. We’ll be happy to help.