In my last several columns, I discussed selecting a screen for our water well and some installation methods. Having our screen installed, we move onto the next step in constructing a good water well: developing the well and the formation around the well screen. I believe that every water well should be developed at least to some degree. Now, for a domestic or small commercial well, we may develop for only a short time and use only one method. For a high capacity well for whatever use—industrial, municipal or irrigation—we need to develop that well to its maximum capacity, least draw-down and highest efficiency. On these wells, we may use several development methods.
Perhaps the simplest way to develop a well is to simply bail it using a dart valve bailer. Here, the longest bailer that our rig can easily handle is the ideal way to go. Most drillers, and I include myself in this category, use the bailer that was used during the drilling process. Now bailing, while it is not a development tool, has sev eral advantages. It will give us a very rough estimate of the capacity of our well and is indeed the only method some drillers use. Bailing will even give us a bit of a surge effect in that when the bailer hits the top of the water in the well, it will displace a bit of water and give us a little back flow into the screen—not much but a little bit. Also, the stop and go of the water into the screen when using the bailer will help to agitate the formation. Unless the well has a very high static level, I am not one to recommend only bailing as a development method. Some pretty good drillers that I know use bailing and only bailing as a test pumping development tool, and this has worked for them for many years. Of course, if we are drilling a rock well, bailing is one of the better ways to pump it. But we are really talking about screened wells.