I like playing in the dirt as much as the next guy, but I'm not upset
that I've never had the honor of standing in muck helping to drill a
water well. Now, not all wells are drilled in an area this wet (most
are drilled in rock). Notice the big screw used to do the drilling.
In the left-side picture, the driller is adding another length of pipe to
extend the length of the drilling screw. This drilling
apparatus only works when drilling shallow wells in soft soil. And
drilling in soft soil is much quicker and easier than drilling through
solid granite, where a rock-eating drill bit must be used.
Of course, maybe these guys like their job -- how many adults get paid to work in the mud?
Measuring water
Human's influence
Water use
Water Science home page
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/gwdrilldirty1.html
Page Contact Information: Howard Perlman
Page Last Modified: Wednesday, 25-Feb-2009 09:14:59 EST
