May
21

Essential Work During COVID-19

little child drinking water from faucet“Fortunately, work related to water and wastewater has been deemed critical to national infrastructure (as per a memo issued by the Federal Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency).  The National Groundwater Association (NGWA) wants private well owners to know:  Services to your water systems, including pump installation, water testing, and water well drilling, are still available during any shelter in place or lock down order.”   For further information, please review the well owner organization .

If you need a water well drilled or a pump installation, don’t hesitate to contact us.  While we are considered essential work – rest assured, we are taking all necessary safety precautions, per the CDC, Safety is and always has been our #1 priority.

Stay safe and healthy!

Looking forward to working with you,

Mike

Aug
13

Teach Our Kids About Water

4 children hugging the earthWhen my kids were little, they enjoyed spending time with their dad out on the job site.  They loved driving in the big trucks, playing in the mud, and most of all, asking me questions about water – “Where does water come from; how do you find the water, how much water is there on Earth?”  If you have kids like mine, luckily, the Groundwater Foundation, provides some fun, useful material to teach your kids about water – groundwater, geology, water wells, and sustainability.  In fact, much of their material is great for adults too!  Check out these 2 links and see how you do!

Water Trivia

Groundwater Quiz

The more we can teach our youth about water, the better off our planet will be.  Enjoy!

Thanks,

Mike

Sep
05

Top 5 water well drilling questions

question mark graphic
My line of work generates a number of questions about water well drilling – both from clients and friends/family.  The top 5 questions include –

  1. How do I start the process of obtaining a water well?
    • First consideration is the water well permit – Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz, and Santa Clara counties all require a permit prior to drilling.  Secondly, there are drilling restrictions depending on the county you live in.  For example, the above mentioned counties require well location 100 feet from the septic system.  After the permit and drilling regulations have been addressed, the well site location is determined between the water well Contractor and the client.
  1. How do I ensure the location I choose will generate water?
    • It’s considered best practice to hire a Hydrogeologist to provide structural land analysis to ensure the most probable water location.
  1. How many gallons of water will the well yield?
    • Water well yield is dependent on the geologic structure of the land.  In our area, alluvium formations (Valley floors – Salinas, Pajaro, and Santa Clara), will produce more water than hard rock formations (mountains).
  1. What are the environmental constraints associated with drilling a well?
    • Environmental constraints are county specific and will be addressed when you start the process of obtaining a water well permit.
  1. What techniques are used to drill?
    • Using state of the art equipment, Granite Drilling, specializes in air and mud rotary, and down the hole hammer drilling for domestic, commercial, agricultural, irrigation wells.

Do you learn better by watching videos vs. reading?  If so, I’d like to share this short, instructional video, also located on our website www.granitedrilling.com, made by the American Groundwater Trust.  This video also addresses each question noted above.

Enjoy!

Mike

Mar
06

Top 3 Tips for Water Well Flooding

drilling site in the distanceRecently, rain has been quite abundant, especially for those of us living in California – near the Central Coast and Bay Area.  And, with so much water, flooding has became inevitable.  For those of you that experienced flooding near your water well, please read the following article from www.wellowner.org.  They provide some great tips that any well owner should consider –

After a flood, the owners of household wells should take certain precautions to make sure their water is safe and their well is in good operating condition.  An obvious concern is that flood water loaded with bacteria, chemicals or other pollutants may have gotten into the well.  A less obvious concern is electrical shock if a non-submersible pump or any part of the well electrical system is flooded.

After a flood one should:

  1. Stay away from the well pump while it is flooded to avoid electrical shock
  2. Do not drink the water from the well or use it for washing to avoid becoming sick
  3. Get help from a qualified water well contractor or pump installer to:
    • Clean and turn on the pump
    • Flush the well
    • Disinfect the well
    • Perform any other necessary maintenance.

Water wells are specialized systems that require knowledge and expertise to repair and disinfect.  If your well has been flooded, use bottled water or boil your water until a qualified water well system contractor can check out your well system.  Well owners also can benefit from reading the well maintenance and water quality sections of www.wellowner.org.

Be safe out there,

Mike

Jan
08

Top 5 Water Wellhead Inspection Tips

water wellHappy New Year!

With all of the recent rain, we tend to forget about our water wells; however, this is the time to examine your wellhead and make sure it is properly secured.  If a wellhead is not properly secured, heavy rain and flooding can become a direct conduit for contamination to your drinking water supply.

Top 5 water wellhead inspection tips –

  1. Examine the electrical conduit attached to the wellhead and make sure the connection is properly sealed and water tight.  It’s important to note that the liquid tight conduit will break down due to UV exposure. Look for cracks and any disconnections that expose electrical wires.
  2. Check the electrical connection at control box – make sure the conduit is properly connected to control box.
  3. Inspect the wellhead for any open access ports.
  4. Check well casing for holes or cracks.
  5. Check the plumbing seal to the wellhead for rusted bolts and broken off plugs that could allow for exposing direct access for rodents and contaminated water.

If you find any exposed wires, please contact a professional electrician or a pump contractor.  It is not safe to handle electrical wiring if you don’t have the proper experience.

Regards,

Mike

May
17

Private water well owner guide – Santa Clara County

water wellDid you recently buy a property with a private well? Or, are you considering drilling a well on your property? If so, where do you start to find out the right information? To help you with your questions, I came across a very informative resource guide through the Santa Clara County Water district – Private Well Owner Guide – Santa Clara County. The resource guide covers your responsibilities as a well owner – water well maintenance, quality protection, treatment, and resources.  We also have a link to the Santa Clara County Water District on our website – Granite Drilling – Water Links.

To Santa Clara County residents, I encourage you to take the time to review the information. Any questions/concerns about your particular situation? Give us a call at 831-751-6300.

Mike

Apr
22

Earth Day – Why you should hire a CARB compliant water well driller

earth day graphicIn the spirit of Earth Day, I’d like to comment about how important it is for the water well drilling industry to support the protection of our environment.

There’s no way around it – to drill a water well, several large machines need to be used, and while our machinery is large, at Granite Drilling Company, our carbon footprint is small. And, it’s small because we made the business decision to comply with the (CARB) California Air and Resource Board’s fleet requirements – reduce diesel particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen emissions from in-use off-road heavy-duty diesel vehicles in California and comply with portable equipment emission standards. Compliance is costly and an administrative burden, but I strongly believe that my fleet needs to have zero negative impact on our environment. However, not all water well drillers are compliant. As a consumer, I strongly encourage you to hire contractors that keep their fleet in compliance.  You can verify compliance via the following link – CA Air & Resources Board fleet compliance.

Continue Earth Day – Why you should hire a CARB compliant water well driller

Apr
10

Drought Not Over

 

water in a fieldAccording to the California Department of Water Resources, “the drought is not over.” The article states that while we’ve had the wettest year since 2012, we still have a long way to go in catching up on years of limited rain.

While many of my clients were hopeful about El Nino, many have realized that they have to take action now to manage the upcoming warmer months – especially larger land owners and developers in Carmel, Hollister, Morgan Hill, Gilroy, and San Martin.  If you haven’t already started the water well permit process, you’ll want to get that going, as some permits can take months for approval.

Continue Drought Not Over

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