Several years ago, I wrote an article about drop pipe: the pipe that connects to a submersible pump and carries the well water to the well head. In that article, I focused on plastic drop pipe, both rigid PVC and semi-flexible HDPE (poly pipe), describing the pros and cons of each and the load bearing capacity of the various sizes.
Having discussed my experience with different well screen designs in former columns, if you get the idea I’m a proponent of stainless steel or bronze wire wound screens, you are right. Actually, I’m not sure bronze or brass screens are available anymore. I have not seen a new one in a lot of years. In my opinion, that is OK. Stainless steel works very well, at least in the waters we encounter here in the Midwest.
I was visiting with a pump contractor a few weeks ago and was interested to learn that his business has nearly doubled this year over last year. I asked why he thought it was doing so well; was it pent up demand after four years of a tough economy, the loss of a competitor or something else?
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.