
Saipan is an island located in the Western Pacific and is part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Here, the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation, (CUC) in association with the United States Geological Survey (USGS), has been busy developing a plentiful and sustainable water supply for its inhabitants that meet the Federal Clean Water Act. The goal of the program is to develop a sound water supply that is critical for the well-being of the inhabitants as well as ensuring the vibrancy of the island tourism trade.
For the past 13 years, distributor Western Well Supply has been providing drilling tools, supplies and advice to various companies throughout the Pacific Rim. CUC typically has used tricones over the years to drill water wells, but has encountered performance difficulties when faced with ground conditions consisting of rock and other hard formations.

The CUC used GEFco Speedstar 25K and 30K drill rigs with on-board 900/350 compressors for the drilling of the water wells throughout the island. The ground condition in much of Saipan consists of formations of clay, limestone and volcanic materials. In addition, difficult high back-pressure conditions are very common in this part of the world. On many occasions in the Pacific Rim, hammers could not drill against the tremendous backpressures that commonly were encountered. With this in mind, the contractors depended on the outstanding service and support Western Well had provided.

The main drilling project required the installation of more than 25 water wells throughout the central highland area of the island. Each hole was 12 inches in diameter, and some extended to a depth of 1,100 feet. In some instances, drilling continued through hundreds of feet of water. This proved to be no challenge for the DTH hammers and bits as they quickly drilled each hole with no incidence of downtime due to product issues. Once complete, the wells produced from 80 gallons to 100 gallons of water per minute - and a constant 24-hour source of clean water.
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Saipan Water Well Project
Application: deep hole water well drillingHole Size: 12 inches
Depth: 1,100 feet
Formation: clay, limestone, volcanic
Hammer: Numa Challenger 100
Rig Type: GEFco Speedstar 25K and 30K
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