How Much Did You Pay To Have Your Well Drilled?

[Marvo]

Hi all,

I would like to get an idea of what everyone has paid to have their deep water well drilled and on what basis the well company undertook the work. E.g. guaranteed to find water or no fee, price per meter depth, did you have to pay anything up front, how much extra for pump etc.

I need to drill for water in the Hua Hin area, close to the base of a mountain and worry what happens if they don't find any water after drilling for 100m. The land plot has no other houses near and is 1 rai in size. Info/education on anyone's experience would be very welcome.

Cheers.

[ricwoo09]

mid 2007 in north Pattaya we had various quotes from B120,000 down to B18,000. of course we chose the B18,000 based on no water no fee a local company so they were confident about water in the area. they found water at 24 meters and the well was secured. we checked water quality at Burapha University water analysis service B1,000. and then installed a carbon filter followed by a green magnese filter. we have a 1,000liter tank and the water is just fine.

[Lite Beer]

In Samui we paid 180,000 Baht. Including the submerged pump. Went down 80 meters before finding water. It was hillside so had to use a diamond drill.

Up here in Isaan it was 18,000 Baht including outside pump. Went down 50 meters.

You will probably also need a permit from the local authority.

Plenty of info. here. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Boreholes-t81390.html

[johnnyk]

mid 2007 in north Pattaya we had various quotes from B120,000 down to B18,000. of course we chose the B18,000 based on no water no fee a local company so they were confident about water in the area. they found water at 24 meters and the well was secured. we checked water quality at Burapha University water analysis service B1,000. and then installed a carbon filter followed by a green magnese filter. we have a 1,000liter tank and the water is just fine.

ricwoo09

What kind of flow rate do you have?

[nakachalet]

in the southern region of thailand, the maximum depth allowable is 100 vertical feet, not meter....!

the price including stainless pump and automatic timer was around 200,000 baht....

additional depth requires additional payment....

was told it was the local govt policy....

[monty]

Done 2 boreholes recently in the Pattaya area and paid 90,000 Baht each time.

Includes Franklin submersible pump. They guarantee water, but not quality.

Don't like the ones with the above ground pump (injection pump) although they are a fair bit cheaper.

[Boksida]

Hi all,

I need to drill for water in the Hua Hin area, close to the base of a mountain and worry what happens if they don't find any water after drilling for 100m. The land plot has no other houses near and is 1 rai in size. Info/education on anyone's experience would be very welcome.

Cheers.

I have just had a look at a hydrogeological map of your area. It classes the area between the coast and the granite hills to the west as an area with unconsolidated and semi-consolidated sediments, normally with fresh water, but high in iron, with yields up to 5 m³/hr. Water is available in the granite area (the hills) from joints or areas of decomposed granite, which means this is a matter of luck as much as anything. Yields range from almost nothing to 10 m³/hr. Closer towards Cha-am there is a better aquifer between the coastal one and the hills.

I don't know if it is near your place, but there were some wells drilled at the Dole pineapple plantation in the 70s and some of them had yields good enough for irrigation and others were very poor. A reservoir had been built as a Royal Project nearby and I suspected that the good wells may have had some underground communication with that.

[Marvo]

Thanks for that insight Boksida.

Here's a Google Earth of the plot location if it gives you any more specific information that you are able to comment on. No pineapple plantations up my road I'm afraid. Many thanks.

Edited October 29, 2009 by Marvo

[Boksida]

Thanks for that insight Boksida.

Here's a Google Earth of the plot location if it gives you any more specific information that you are able to comment on. No pineapple plantations up my road I'm afraid. Many thanks.

You may be lucky as the valley between the two hills may be a natural water course although it looks like your block maybe a little too high to get the most benefit. If it exists, the water would be in the sediments near to the surface or in a weathered granite layer immediately below this but still shallow. I doubt it would be worth the investment to continue driling after you had hit solid rock.

Can you get any information on whether groundwater is being used at the Black Mountain Golf Course - it looks like similar geology?

[monty]

but high in iron

I have had one borehole, done about 4 years ago, which was very high in dissolved iron (ferrous water).

Virtually impossible to use as household water as everything stains yellow, and bacteria starts growing in those stains.

Iron is pretty difficult/expensive to filter out of the water especially if concentration is high.

I used Birm as filter media, and even that could not take out all the iron!

[Boksida]

but high in iron

I have had one borehole, done about 4 years ago, which was very high in dissolved iron (ferrous water).

Virtually impossible to use as household water as everything stains yellow, and bacteria starts growing in those stains.

Iron is pretty difficult/expensive to filter out of the water especially if concentration is high.

I used Birm as filter media, and even that could not take out all the iron!

I find iron to be one of the easier contaminants to remove. If the water is aerated, the ferrous iron turns to ferric and a sand filter will remove it. Still a nuisance as the filter has to be backwashed frequently.

[katabeachbum]

in the southern region of thailand, the maximum depth allowable is 100 vertical feet, not meter....!

the price including stainless pump and automatic timer was around 200,000 baht....

additional depth requires additional payment....

was told it was the local govt policy....

odd

In Phuket my lisence states water must be collected deeper than 30 meters (100 feet) and not deeper than 120 meter. 80 meters cost me 160k 3 years back including lisence, submerged stainless pump delivering 3000 liter/hour and an advanced controlpanel. I supply several houses from this.

[Marvo]

UPDATE:

WATER!

I did the deal on a 25,000 baht if no water found basis, or 160,000 baht for a productive well, 1HP pump and the associated control gear.

The 4 guys have been on site for two days and drilled down through pretty tough stuff to 50m where we're getting 2,000 litres per hour. They are going to try going another 10-20 meters in the morning to see if we can improve on what we're getting now. No idea of the quality of the precious stuff as of yet.

[genset]

Hi Marvo,

Wish I'd seen this thread earlier, I would like to have given you a copy of this document.

For anybody out there considering a bore hole, the attached document is an interesting read and will improve your knowledge of the process and the importance of drilling depth, proper screening, casing to prevent collapse and sealing the borehole to prevent contamination of the aquifer.

Genset

Lifewater_Drilling_Manual_2004.pdf

[Marvo]

Hi Marvo,

Wish I'd seen this thread earlier, I would like to have given you a copy of this document.

For anybody out there considering a bore hole, the attached document is an interesting read and will improve your knowledge of the process and the importance of drilling depth, proper screening, casing to prevent collapse and sealing the borehole to prevent contamination of the aquifer.

Genset

Useful info genset, thanks.

OK, finally: Drilled to 80m and we've got 2,000 - 3,000 litres per minute, which i would call a result. The ground seemed pretty hard as we are close to the mountain. After half a day setting up, the guys drilled solidly for 2 whole days, averaging about 4m per hour. I now have 80m of 4" blue plastic pipe in an 80m hole in the plot plus a bottle of my water sitting here on my desk .

They found water at 57m and continued drilling down to 80m. We now have the water level in the bore hole only 20m down from the surface. We are waiting for electricity to come up the road before we connect the pump up, but the electricity supply is another story.