For water well drillers and pump installers, construction and installation are just one aspect of the job. Much of their time is spent responding to well problems and researching to choose the right troubleshooting methods. A wide range of issues can occur with water wells and when drillers run into them, figuring out the source and solution can be frustrating. Sometimes the answer to the problem is never found.
David Hanson, who founded Design Water Technologies in 1991, has spent more than five decades helping groundwater industry professionals and their customers tend to such matters. He got started developing products and practices for well problems to spread awareness that shock chlorination isn’t the answer to everything, to help drillers realize that the chemistry behind most problems is more basic than they think, and to foster safe approaches to problem solving. A master of the topic, he spends a good deal of time spreading his knowledge and experiences with drillers. At the 2015 South Atlantic Well Drillers Jubilee, he led a seminar titled “Understanding Your Well Problems.” In a follow-up interview with National Driller, Hanson reviewed some of the lecture, covering a few of the many issues he works with. Our interview is edited for space and clarity.