Overview

On-site evaluations for water wells are often taken for granted by builders. I have known many builders who have submitted bids for work without ever seeing the building lot. There is a lot of risk in doing this. A builder cannot bid a job competitively without knowing what type of well will be used. If a bid goes in for a bored well and it turns out that a drilled well is needed, the bidder will lose money. If you estimate for the most expensive type of well in lieu of examining the site, you can overbid and lose the job. Failure to do a site inspection can be a very big mistake.

What can you really tell by walking a piece of land? It depends on your past experience and skill level. Some conditions point to obvious solutions. For example, when I built my last home, I was able to see bedrock sticking up in places. The type of humps in the land indicated rock close to the surface. A little scratching and digging proved that bedrock was right at the ground surface in some spots and not more than a couple of feet down in most locations. This automatically told me that a drilled well would be needed. When bedrock is present, drilling is the only sensible option.

You can t always see what s likely to be under the ground by looking at the surface. Knowledgeable builders want to know what they will get into when drilling wells...