WorldWide Drilling Resource

Tales from the Field by Jeremy C. Wire Geoconsultants, Inc. Horizontal Water Wells In the gas and oil fields, drilling vertically, then turning horizontally and drilling several thousand feet in an extended reach to recover gas and oil from a fractured formation is a common operation. However, drilling horizontal water wells into hillsides in our area is out of the ordinary, although drilling horizontal dewatering wells in highway cut slopes or landslides to stabilize them has been a common practice for many decades. Many years ago, there were parts of our region where geology of vertical beds of saturated sandstone lent itself to devel- opment of wells by horizontal drilling, when vertical wells were not successful in capturing much water. Many of these wells were drilled for domestic supply before water from a utility became available, but now have either been abandoned, or used only for stock or irrigation water supply. One enterprising homeowner who owned a machine shop built his own horizontal drilling rig out of miscellaneous parts and mounted it on an old car chassis. This rig actually worked successfully, and he could drill 100 feet or more into a hillside in search of water. If not enough was found, the whole contraption was turned at a slight angle, and drilling commenced again. This operation was repeated, if necessary, resulting in a “fan-shaped” pattern of bore- holes (as viewed from above). Usually, enough flow could be found in several tries, and sometimes as much as 30 gal- lons per minute or more could be devel- oped by this method in a favorable geologic setting. When water was found, the drill stems and bit which were expendable, were left in place as “casing”. Several horizontal wells were drilled by this home- owner on both his and neighboring properties. Later, a more ambitious project in- volved the drilling of two horizontal wells with a tractor-mounted rig made for the purpose and operated by a professional drilling contractor. This project was for a golf course which could not develop much irrigation supply from vertical wells com- pleted in steeply dipping formations. The horizontal borings were drilled into the side of a hill for a distance of 1000 feet to potentially intercept a target layer of steeply dipping sandstone which supplied many springs in the region. Although some water flow was developed along the way in both borings, the target sandstone was apparently never reached. In drilling with air rotary, the primary air compressor, working against difficult drilling conditions, finally overheated, and caught fire, end- ing the operation. We never knew whether another 100 feet of drilling in either of the bore- holes might have brought success. Reality prevailed with mounting costs of the dif- ficult drilling, and as far as we know, no additional attempts were ever made to develop a water supply for this golf course by horizontal drilling. Jeremy michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com April 18-20, 2018 Spearfish, SD Spearfish Holiday Inn and Convention Center Phone: (800) 999-3541 • (605) 642-4683 For room booking use group code: BIW www.holiday-inn.com/spearfishsd James McNulty: (605) 786-4959 • bitwconference@gmail.com Doug Hoy: (605) 940-1055 • dough@sayreassociates.com For more information, or to register online, go to: bitwconference.org Tuesday: Registration and early exhibit set-up (after 10 am or before noon on Wednesday). Wednesday: Crazy Horse Mountain Tour, Paul Muehl Scholarship Clay Shoot, Bob MartinScholarship Golf Scramble, regulatory session, primer hour Thursday: Technical sessions, booster hour, banquet, live scholarship auction Friday: Technical sessions. Booths close after 10 am coffee break. Conference ends after lunch. Everyday: Exhibitor booths with the latest in blasting technology and products, lunch, door prizes, and much more! Blaster recertification credit hours available for Wyoming and many other states! See you there! 18 APRIL 2018 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®