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Tales from the Field by Jeremy C. Wire Geoconsultants, Inc. The Missing Water Well Occasionally, it is necessary to locate an old unused or abandoned well in the field, without much supporting information on its location, and we are usually successful. Remnants of infrastructure may be present, such as old rusty pipelines that once discovered may lead to the well head. Likewise, old power drops with dangling wires provide the clue a well casing may be nearby. Sometimes there is a paper trail which may help, with possibly a map showing the location. However, even on old documents submitted to regulators, the well location may be vague, being written long before more modern times when descriptions are usually accompanied by GPS coordinates. In one instance, a domestic well had been completed some years before our site investigation and search, and there were records showing where it had been certified for a building permit for a residence that was never built. On our first attempt to find it in the field, using distances carefully measured to its location as shown on a parcel map, no trace of a well could be found. There was no evidence the well had been destroyed, either. Although the site was undeveloped, it was not particularly heavily overgrown by vegetation which might conceal the wellhead. So, back to the office to review the records for something that might have been overlooked in reading the description. The property owner told us, “The well has to be there, nothing has changed at the property for years. So go back out and look again.” We returned to the site for another look, and this time combed through every bit of brush and weeds that could conceal a capped, short piece of white PVC casing sticking out of the ground. This time, success . . . it was evident that over the past years, a shrub with white flowers had completely wrapped itself around the casing, and totally concealed it, making it impossible to see even from a short distance away. In this case, persistence finally paid off. Recalling a separate incident several years later, we received a telephone call at the office, and the person on the other end of the line asked, “Do you locate water wells?” We acknowledged we did, and briefly explained our exploration methods. Then the person stated in a serious tone, “I think I have a water well somewhere in my backyard, and could you help me find it?” Finding this request somewhat amusing, we can’t remember what our response was, but as the well was apparently not obvious and possibly totally concealed by a plant, probably not much help based on our previous experience. Jeremy Jeremy Wire may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com 16 JULY 2019 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® EXB