Water Well Drillers

[mango head]

Does anybody know of any competent water well drilling companies in Nakohn Ratchasima (Korat) area?

[chaiyapoon]

Its difficult now to drill for water if you are near a goverment water supply pipe as they don't want to many people taking directly from underground supplies.I just managed to get my pipe done.The word competent and water drillers don't go together.I'm out in the back areas of Udon and the two rigs out here are certainly not operated by companies but by local Thais. I waited six weeks for one outfit who everyone said was the best before going to the other team in indesperation its not easy living without a good water supply.For 15000b They drilled 20 meters before they found water using a hand built rig using two diesel engines on an old bare pickup chassis that couldn't have cost more than 50000b in total rig included.

Luckily the job came with a two year garuantee as after a month the water ran out and they had to come back to drill a new hole on the other side of the property.This however has been excellent ever since, the water tasting much better from 7 meters deeper.

Best of luck speak to the people round you who have a bore hole they should be able to find you someone.They make quiet a mess so be prepared!!!

[BigA]

I saw two huge rotary rigs going down the road near Ratchaburi. The equipment was comparable to that in the US. Water well drillers are like gypsies, and they may be willing to travel far and wide to get work. (depending on the quality of the truck chassis its mtd on !) I would say ask for referrals and keep your eyes peeled. One of the best ways for a Driller to advertise is word of mouth and the condition of their equipment rolling down the road. The driller I saw had a phone # on the truck.

I would not mind owning a drilling co here but I think it is a restricted business under the ABL, which means extra hassles to get approved.

Many of the wells here in Thailand are alluvial which means they take the water from sand and gravel formations above the solid rock or sometimes sandwiched underneath a thin layer of lime. These wells are more likely to go dry when there is no rain. Deeper is not always a better option for quality reasons. The reason to get a rotary driller would be if you needed to drill through Limestone to tap your supply or hit a deep sandstone deposit, its way faster than the cable method. I don't know if primary rock types like granite are encountered as a water bearing formation here. If that is the case forget it and get a cistern.

I would say the local boys mentioned are the best option for the homeowner. A person with a factory to support might want the big guys capabilities.

I agree with the previous post about govt regualtions and reluctance to allow too many private supplies. I heard its almost impossible to get permisssion to drill a Well in Germany Its getting tough in the US too, it is individual rights becoming subjected to the "good" of the many. And the govt's desire to control everything

[tudorw]

Permission to drill? It never occurred to me for one moment that I should ask. Must have been in Thailand too long.

I just had a well drilled on my wife's folks' farm. It cost 15,000 and was done by guys from a neighbouring village using one of those iron buffalos. They quoted that price for 3 days work. I'm told it took 5 days plus a lot of persuasion before they struck water.

Pump and pipe were extra but cheap.

'Guarantees' were never mentioned. I just assumed we were going into an eternal spring or something and it would never run dry. It only goes to show.

Ah well, live and learn.

[edd]

I had our well made 5 years ago, it involved finding some "proper welldiggers" from the next village.

When we found them they were dead drunk, to say the least i was not impressed.

But T.I.T

The following day they started digging by hand with a T bar, round and round they went all day.

After 2 days, a flower and a bottle of lawkaw for luck, they hit water.

The cort was 3800B plus the drink.

It has never gone dry and tasts ok, although i drink bottled water.

"PERMISSION TO DRILL" come on now this is Thailand

Edd

[davidmmurin]

My wife and I had a well drilled approximately 125 feet and good drinkable water back in April for around 14000 bath. They worked for 3 days in the heat here in the Ban Thaen Chaiyaphum Area. If they didn't hit water they would have drilled another and another with no extra cost. They installed the surface casing set the conductor pipe and pump and I furnished the power and fed them.

[Derek B]

Are there any more recent post than 2004 and from the Prasat/Surin area?

[SantiSuk]

Make sure your Thai partner cultivates the pooyai baan if you live in a village. They often have contacts for most things like this or if not immediately can recommend someone who knows someone.

[PeterA]

We had a well dug in Phimai almost two years ago. They dug 38 meters down. The water was horrid. The well, casing, pump and cover cost 10,000 THB. The pump died in a year, even though it was guaranteed for 3 or 4, but the drilling person became not-available when I needed a new pump. He lives just down the road. I tested the water from a kit from Amazon. It had very high amounts of bacteria. It also smelled terrible. They did a good job digging, but after support was nonexistent. If you need a number I can get it for you. I used the water only for the garden.

[topcat333]

I'm going to add my story about well drilling, well water, and water filtering. I'll start by saying I'm no expert, but I have been forced to learn more about this topic than I ever wanted to know. I will also say this is an ongoing story because the problems are not solved. I'm providing this information to help others avoid making the same mistakes.

 

We built a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom country house in Roi Et Province, Phon Sai District, as a retirement home and started this project in 2023. My goal when starting the water project was to have a good supply of usable whole-house water, including safe drinking water. I did not want to fill tanks and buy bottled water. My first mistake was allocating 90% of my research to the filtration system and 10% to the well. In my defense, I left that part to my contractor and the drilling company that drills wells in this area, and they should certainly know their business, right?

 

My only request to the contractor and well drilling company was to provide me with a good source of water with a pump, and I would handle the rest above ground. I requested to go deeper for better water quality, but in this area, it doesn't seem to be the answer. I was told the deep water in this area has a heavy salt content so a shallow well is the only way to go. 

 

I was out of the country working when the well was drilled. The house was still under construction, so the water was only being used for construction purposes at this point. I had designed a filtration system and had it shipped to the house. It consisted of a multi-stage filtration system designed to make the water usable before entering the house, and another 4-stage reverse osmosis system to provide drinking water at the faucets.  The filtration system works as designed, passing all quality tests for minerals and bacteria. However, it only took a day or two to discover that we were pumping almost as much sand out of the well as we were water, which seriously clogged the filtration system and impeded the flow of water.  I was able to quickly add a large particulate filtration tank to the system, which solved the immediate problem and provided a workable solution. 

 

We still have not lived in our house for more than a few months in these past few years, but it's clear that everything about the well is wrong. We are pulling a large amount of sand through the pump, which is likely shortening the pump's life. The water level is already questionable, as when I backflush the system, I can tell we are actually running out of water, the pump is underpowered and clearly not designed for a house like ours, which will use far more water than a typical village house. 

 

Conclusion: After conducting research, I have found ways to manage a sandy well at the wellhead through the use of casings and sand filters. The real challenge is finding a company that has the experience and resources to handle the job correctly, but it must be done; otherwise, the idea of being self-sufficient with our own source of water becomes increasingly problematic.