Whenever I attend conferences it seems to me that I continually see the same faces attending the same shows, which causes me to reflect upon the fact that at any given moment there are 16,00 to 18,000 drillers in the United States. However, even given those numbers, that level of conference attendees is not reflected at the shows, especially considering that outside of a select number of vendors providing weekend continuing education courses, the annual shows are the only place to get that education.

Another perspective on this very same issue is one of my favorite questions posed on Water Well Guys on Facebook: “How many cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air do I need to airlift this [insert common well size] inch well?” or, “how many psi will I need to tremie grout this [insert common well size] inch well?”

The reality is that all of these questions are physics questions, so all drillers should not be expected to have an understanding of the formulas behind the calculations, but it is reasonable to expect that at the very least, a driller should be able to determine when he has a 15 pound mud, or when their mud density is beginning to cross into a danger zone for their mud pump, or how to control solids, or that 1 psi is equivalent to 2.31 feet of water.

Even without knowing all of these things off hand, a driller should know what resources are available online. Wyo-Ben, Baroid, and America West Drilling Supply (and likely others) all have online annular velocity calculators. The BEST part of these calculators is the ability to change variables so you can theoretically derive the best value case for your situation. For instance, if a 3-inch pipe is used to transfer air, what is needed is 1,100 CFM, but with 4-inch pipe, that can be reduced to 750 CFM, thereby saving thousands of dollars in rental and fuel costs for hundreds of dollars in a different size pipe.

Even aside from all of those things, I will be covering “Lessons Learned” on drilling projects at one of the upcoming shows. I absolutely love hearing the war stories from drillers at any show. The primary reason why is those war stories all have a moral. There is always a lesson that was learned, and attendees get to learn from industry professionals who have decades of experience. All it costs to learn lessons from their experiences is a few hundred dollars in tickets and a hotel room. That seems like a fairly valuable return on investment.

So why is it such a challenge to recruit driller industry professionals to attend these events at a time when manufacturers are consistently fielding new products, and regulators are trying to better understand industry challenges? The forum for conversations, dialogue, understanding, and learning is unmatched. Our customers have an expectation that their contractors are continuing to stay informed of advancements in our field. Our employees expect that they are being afforded at least some exposure to advancements which may make their lives easier.

So the question is again asked, why do drillers hate continuing education?

The fear is that the honest answer provided by drillers is a combination of a few answers, including:

1. I have been drilling longer than the instructor has, and I have forgotten more than the instructor has learned.
2. I cannot afford to stop drilling to go to a silly show.
3. The only reason I do continuing education units (CEU) is to keep my license current, so I might as well do the $50 state-approved course and call it good.

Those excuses can be picked apart for a much longer article, however I will simply say it is not unreasonable to believe that those who are sure there is not anything to learn from someone else have no hard days and I would like to learn their magic. If a driller cannot afford to go, perhaps they are participating in the reason the overall industry continues to hear about contractors who are willing to perform work for less than cost; no wonder so many customers do not recognize the value of water. If continuing education is merely a check in the box for some drillers  who otherwise have no interest in participating, there are other occupations that may be more appropriate for those drillers.

While providing access to water every day, drillers not only discover the unknown, they provide a source for life to people, to animals—that in turn provide life and livings to those people—and to plants that put food on our plates. Therefore, it is worth investing some time, money, and energy into advancing the drilling industry every year. If that is not possible, make it every other year. Simply put, make time for continuing education; it is important.