Windsor

When we went to the well driller’s, we got to see all the tools they use. One of them looked like a fist with brass knuckles. The other two were like gears. One was made out of some sort of steel. The other one was made out of some metal. He also said his dad made some tools like a hook, spear, and a big tweezers.

–Kyle

The well drillers drill holes in the earth to pick up aquifers. Aquifers are groups of water moving through the earth that come from lakes and landfills. The well drillers suck up the aquifers so water can run through your house.

Well drilling is kind of iffy. If you hit a crack in drilling and an aquifer comes through while you’re drilling, it will completely flood your well. Then you have to suck up all that water before you reach the full length.

Well drilling has run in the family. Here is a story from when his grandpa worked: one time his grandpa guaranteed a farmer water, so he dug him a well. But it took him four years before he hit water. By this time his well was 10,250 feet deep and the average is 200 feet deep. That is why they don’t guarantee water.

–Thomas

Some people think that when you drill down for water it’s just there in a pool. This is not true. Water moves through a level in the ground called an aquifer. If you have a leaky landfill or something else like that, it can affect aquifers in the areas because the dirty water from the landfill will mix with the clean water, making it dirty. There are two kinds of aquifers: sand and rock. Rock is tighter, and clay separates different aquifers. If the aquifer is rock, the water moves through different cracks. If the aquifer is sand, the water sifts through.

When they used to make wells longer ago, they would line the well with rocks or wood. These kinds of wells are the kind most people fall into. These wells were dug with a shovel or an old tool that looked like this: leave space for drawing. They would pound the tool into the ground and then clean it out with a shovel.

–Anna