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 It’s end of the year and typically work slows a little as we head into the holiday season, giving us time to reflect on our work and the people who have helped us make it through another year. When I think back on the 30 years that I have been in the drilling business, I am grateful that the individuals who have been my boss have been willing to share their experience with me.  

 As I prepared for the National  Ground Water Association’s 2013 Groundwater Expo in Nashville, I wanted to take a look at the state of the industry and offer a few thoughts on its near future.  

As discussed in last month’s article “Proper Grouting Protects Your Loop, Safeguards Groundwater,” grouting a geothermal borehole serves three vital purposes: to seal the hole/protect the ground loop, to protect groundwater from possible contamination and to improve thermal conductivity. 

Drillers know they make an impact, but that doesn’t usually mean helping to supply water for hundreds of thousands of people. Steven Bryan sensed the scope of the Central Utah Water Conservancy District project when he got the call. Working the project, which involves several 24-inch wells that will supply a swath of central Utah, only confirmed the impact.

 In a perfect world, drilling fluids for each project would have exactly the right properties for the job at hand and the work would go as planned. But, sometimes, changing conditions downhole—e.g., shale, rock, sand or salt—require further modification in water loss properties, rheology control or viscosity modification.  

Anderson Drilling is a respected and experienced foundation contractor known for tackling big foundation jobs in California. Anderson operates a high-quality and well-maintained fleet of foundation drills and cranes, and the traditional tooling capable of completing these often monumental projects. In order to be more efficient in the recent downturn in the construction economy, Anderson looked at newer technology, specifically Atlas Copco’s 48-inch cluster drill, as a way to speed up the foundation drilling process.

 You can’t trademark natural resources, but ownership of them is increasingly becoming an issue as those resources become scarce. In fact, the question of ownership over water rights has become a knock-down fight. Water shortages have been an issue in the western states in the U.S. for well over 100 years and officials could foresee even back then that water was limited.  

 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently reinforced the current trend of natural gas-powered equipment when it granted certification to two of GE’s Waukesha engines for mobile, non-road applications: the L7044, a 1,680-horsepower, 1,200 kW 12-cylinder engine, and the smaller 5794, a 1,380 horsepower, 1,000 kW 12-cylinder engine.  

Grouting the borehole for many first-time installers is a steep learning curve. At best, it is time consuming; at worst, the borehole can be ruined! Drilling contractors typically spend the majority of their research time on the drilling and assume the grouting will be simple compared to drilling the borehole. While this premise is generally correct, grouting still requires the correct setup with the right equipment, mix and training. 

 If you don’t have good water, it doesn’t matter what other resources you have. Securing a good public water supply is one of the most basic but most important concerns for any town. Like many municipalities, Baton Rouge, La., has found its water supply stressed to its limits by population growth and city expansion.