QUESTION
Drilling in loose soil

In village Marenhalli and some surrounding areas in pincode 577528, when drilling for water, the soil from about 150 feet and deeper is seen to be loose with either gravel or slush. The high speed drilling rigs, which use compressed air and water, invariably either abandon drilling for fear of their drilling bits and pipes getting stuck under ground, or, if water is struck, they advise farmers to install very high priced MS casing pipes as deep as possible.

I have experience, and lost money, when a rig drilling upto 160 feet and then abandoned because, they said, they encountered gravel that coudn't be flushed out. Subsequently, they drilling about 300-400 feet away and went down to 300 feet and then claimed that there was seepage. They used water to flush out slush, but, after several tries, abandoned it.

This trial and error method is unprofessional and leads to heavy costs.

What are the cost-effective methods of successful drilling under such conditions? Can the boreholes be stabilised using polymers or sodium bentonite? Which is the ideal machine used for drilling under these conditions? Can a mud engineer help? Do you offer professional services for this purpose?

Please advise in depth.

Thank you for your time.

 

by
25 September 2021