WELL CONSTRUCTION - Teflon pipe dope UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER RESOURCES DIVISION WASHINGTON, D. C. 20242 January 15, 1970 4037 0001 GROUND WATER BRANCH TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM NO. 70.8 To: Regional Hydrologists and District Chiefs, WRD From: Chief, Ground Water Branch, WRD Subject: WELL CONSTRUCTION - Teflon pipe dope George A. Dinwiddie, of the WRD Radiohydrology Project Office at Denver, furnishes the following information on a relatively new product--Teflon pipe dope--for use in test-well construction and other pipe-fitting requirements, particularly where water contamination by pipe dope is a concern: "Normal pipe dope is a petroleum-base substance that tends to bleed out of the pipe connections, especially as temperature increases. The dope, or at least the oily film derived from the dope, fouls instruments and contaminates the water. Teflon paste was our solution to this problem. In addition to being a good lubricant, this teflon pipe dope is relatively inert and stable even as temperature increases. The material also is a dielectric which means that it does not affect the instruments nearly as much as the normal pipe dope. The material that we used during hydraulic testing of deep holes in Central Nevada has the trade name "Quick Seal" and was ordered from Saunders Corporation of Los Angeles. It is listed as Saunders No. S-33 (Quick Seal) by the Saunders Corporation (Telephone 213 246-5595)." (s) C. L. McGuinness WRD Distribution: A, B, S, FO, PO