My Experience with Borewell Drilling

[pachik]

Hi All,

I have been following this forum for quiet some time. I have posted few queries before and the answers provided by the members has been really helpful. Hopefully I can contribute back to this forum.

I finished drilling borewell at my site today, so thought of giving my experience and here it goes...

1. Got diviner M.V Srinivas (9845720906) reference by going through some of the threads in this forum. Contacted him and fixed for an appointment. As others mentioned in their posts, he comes from Hebbal area and was accompanied by a person from Surekha Borewells (I guess it was the owner). He used the traditional coconut method and identified 3 points all in the NE part of the plot. We used 2Ft long iron rods to mark the points. He charged Rs. 2000 for his service. Since in my layout most of them have drilled around 1000 Ft and found little or no water, he suggested to be prepared to go until 1200Ft for water. The guy from the Borewell company gave a quotation which I took and told him I would get back to him.

2. Since I knew that my neighbors had gone until 1000Ft, I wanted to be sure whether to drill borewell or not. So I wanted to get another opinion from a Geologist to tell me how deep I need to go. If he says 1000Ft, I wanted to rethink whether to drill or not. So called Mr. Gopalappa (9448227044). Again I got the reference from one of the posts in the forum. He came and used compass to gave 3 points which were at the same places which the diviner had identified (within 1.5Ft range) which I was fine. I was expecting he would give me an idea of how deep I should be drilling. But he was not sure, he said since everyone else has gone 1000Ft, I should also go upto 1200Ft. I was not happy with his ansser. Being an engineer I wanted more details, but was totally disappointed with the geologists answers. He charged Rs. 1500 which I felt was very high and not worth it. My advice to other folks would be to not engage his services.

3. Now I had to decide whether to drill or not. I did lot of calculation keeping 1000Ft in mind. It was coming to 2.5L with both drilling and pump installation. After talking to lot of people and lot of deliberation, I decided to take a chance. I made up mind to drill upto 800Ft and take a chance.

4. Called up a priest and identified date/time for both Bhoomi pooja and the borewell drilling. The borewell drill time was given for May 10th between 12-12:30PM

5. Started talking to few borewell agencies. Finally decided with Mallikarjuna Borewells (9731160335) and their prices looked reasonable to me. Booked an appointment with them for the given date. I called them multiple times to make sure they will be at my site by 11AM so they can start at 12noon.

6. My mom and my wife were very excited about the borewell drilling experience since it is the first time for all of us. So we all finished Bhoomi pooja and started waiting. As always the Borewell drilling guys were late. Called them numerous times and finally told the agent if he is not coming before 2:30PM, then we will go with another agency. Finally the drilling machine was at my site at 2:45PM. We had finished doing pooja at 12PM.

7. The guys started setting up the machine. They were all set by 3:10PM. And I asked the drillers to start.

8. I asked them to put 20Ft PVC pipe though the soil was not loose. This I wanted since I am planning to do a RWH pit around the drill point and someone adviced to use PVC pipe and it will be easier later.

9. Found rock at around 40Ft. So they used the casing pipe which came to 42Ft (@340pFt). I could not see any brand written on the pipes. I called the agent and asked him which company casing pipe he was using since I had asked for caltube. HE said it was Lakshmi brand, but I could not find the name anywhere. I guy present at the site said it is a new company and it is 2.5mm thickness. Anyways I did not have any choice since he did not have anything else.

10. Started drilling further and suddenly saw some water coming out. I was not excited since I was still thinking about 800+Ft in my mind. The operator said it was a water source but the pressure was not high.

11. Continued drilling further and at around 95Ft, found another source. This time the water force looked good and I could see excitement in my mom's face. The operator said it was another water source and said it is around 1.5". I was happy but still was not convinced. Continued drilling.

12. At 7PM, they stopped drilling and said they had fill diesel since they could not top up because of delay and they had drilled about 260Ft. The operator said the water source had continued from 100Ft. Started drilling again and I asked them to stop at 10PM. Total depth 360Ft. After 300, there was no water. They said there were no other source found and whatever we found at 100Ft was around 1.5". They said the next day morning, we will not better if that water gets stored overnight.

13. The operator called me at 5:30AM and asked me to come fast so I can check the overnight storage. By the time I reached the spot, they had started drilling again. The operator said the water storage was good since the soil coming out was damp (because of the water that seeped into the bore). He made a ball out of it and showed me. He said for 2 family 1.5" inch water will be more than enough.

14. Asked the operator to drill further and see if we can find another source. After 450Ft, I felt finding another source might be difficult and made up mind to stop at 500Ft. After 500Ft, the operator stopped and asked me if he should continue. I told him I will make few calls and let him know.

15. Called few folks and some of them said to go till 800Ft and others said to stop. Called the diviner and told him what happened. He said go till 600Ft and then stop. Called the geologist and asked him. He said he cannot tell that and suggested I talk to the operator. He said they will be more experienced and can provide the correct details and asked me to decide myself. I was again disappointed with him. Finally I decided to drill till 600Ft and stop (though I was still wanted to stop at 500Ft).

16. The operator started drilling again. But I started thinking back and forth. Asked the operator again to confirm if the source found at 100Ft was good enough (I would have asked him 15-20mins and I could see he was a little pissed). He again confirmed that they found water at 95Ft and it continued till 300Ft, after that no water. He said according to him, for a family it is good source and it is summer and rainy season has not started and the yield will get better during rainy season. So finally asked him to stop and wrap up.

I wanted to measure the drilling pipes since lot of people said it will not be 20Ft exactly. But the operator said they are 18.6Ft and looked honest, so I did not bother drilling. In total they used 30 rods (560Ft). Tipped them 500Rs. + 100Rs. for tea. Here are the final charges:
0-300Ft -> Rs. 62
300-400 -> Rs. 72
400-500 -> Rs. 82
500-560 -> Rs. 97
10" PVC 17Ft @ Rs. 340
Inner Casing 2.5mm 42Ft @ Rs. 340
Collar, Cap - 100Rs. each
welding charges - Rs.150
Transportation + Labour -> Rs.400 + Rs.400

Total -> Rs. 61000/-

Next I plan to do RWH because that is what I am banking on. After talking to few people, I was convinced that doing RWH will definitely recharge my borewell. Hence I decided to stop at 560Ft (I am still thinking should have stopped at 450Ft). Next I will be looking at some of the posts in this forum to decide on a good pump and get it installed.

I know its a long post...but wanted to write everything I remember before I forget.

Cheers...

[jaganm]

I wanted to share my experience as well. I have a site in Nagarbhavi where the water is found at around 200 feet. I had planned to go with Vinayaka Borewell based on the feedback here. I got the quote in March. However, there was a delay in processing the application due to elections. Finally, we got the go ahead from the inspector towards April end. I called a geologist who used the compass to identify two points and charged me 1500. I fixed up with Vinayaka on 1st May at 5:30 am. Woke up at 4:30 and started towards the site. When I reached, I got 10 missed calls from his manager. it turned out that his crew had gone to home town and were only back on monday (may 5). I had taken off on May 2/5, so thought it would happen. When I called him on May 4, he said that they were still not there and gave me a date on wednesday. Wednesday and Thursday came but no rig (due to elections he said). By now, I was totally upset and threatened to go elsewhere if he doesn't come on Friday. He gave me a time of 11 am and I was forced to take one more day off. In the interim, I got quotes from a couple of other guys but waited to confirm giving him one final chance

On Friday, I started calling him at 9 as the site is around an hour away. He finally confirmed at 1 that the rig will be there at 3. So, me, my mother and brother rushed to the site and waited for another hour, he finally came at 3:30. After all the setup was done, they started drilling at around 4:30. They had a few hiccups en route as the piston was broken, but they seemed well prepared for it. The geologist had given a depth of 160-170 ft for the 1st level but that came and went without any water. Then suddenly at 195 feet, the water started gushing out. They said that it was around 3 inches of water. We continued to find the next source, and the water was coming constantly, so much that it flooded the next site. Finally at 312 feet, I decided to call it off as they didn't find the next source. The guys asked me to go till 500 ft but I felt that it was good enough and decided to stop.

They fixed around 10 ft of PVC pipe and around 50 ft of casing. As my site is sloping, we intend to fill up the site for around 12 ft, so he fixed an extra 15 ft of casing pipe and charged me for 60 ft in total. He had taken an advance of 50K, but I don't think the cost will come to that much (around 2-3K less), so I wonder if he will return the excess. The crew were really pressing me for tips, so I gave them 2K, which I felt was little excessive, but I was so happy with the yield that I didn't mind.

Next I have to purchase the motor and pipes to get the whole thing operational and continue the construction.

[arunthl]

Encouraging posts... Really appreciate that you both have taken time to share your good experience. All the best with construction..

[ravi555]

@pachik & @jaganm

Thanks for the information you both gave. Few questions
1. What was the cost of pumpsets and installation cost?
2. Who will you have to call for installing the pump sets?
3. What is the Overall Cost (Drilling, pumpset etc)?

[BloreBoy]

I’m looking for contacts of geologist/diviners. Please do share the numbers

Thanks

[Kiran Kumar K]

I’m looking for contacts of geologist/diviners. Please do share the numbers

Thanks
rajashekar-9880099118