by Lon Nordeen, MLSA Secretary
MLSA went to well drillers to secure their perspectives on finding safe water to drink. We talked with Larry Clark, owner of Cribley Drilling in Dexter, Michigan.
Lon’s discussion with Larry Clark:
I am the owner of Cribley Drilling LLC, located in Dexter, MI. We have been drilling wells since 1947, and I have been working here since I was 18 years old. We drill wells for residential, apartments, businesses, farms, and all sorts of special applications. Over the years, I have been involved in the drilling of thousands of wells all over Michigan.
All our wells must meet EGLE, the state of Michigan’s safe drinking water regulations, and we work closely with state, county, and local government and health departments to meet code and safety requirements. We have regulations that require us to carefully select a spot to drill a well, no closer than 50-100 feet from septic systems and other wells and farther from schools, farms, industrial sites, and roads to support safe drinking water.
We also help the property owners fill out and secure local approvals, including consulting the well database, which documents where previous wells have been drilled. In many locations, the wells must be approved and set before septic systems and buildings can progress.
Wells need to be properly sized to meet customer needs and have enough water. Flow rate and well size, plus pump size, must be evaluated to fulfill the everyday use, seasonal use, and special needs of water use of each customer, be it a private home well system or special requirements of farms, business, etc.
How do you find water for a successful well? My answer is research of well records, geology data, and also long years of experience. In the area we operate, we have a lot of sand, clay, silt, and some bedrock, and a lot of areas have a mix of these materials where underground water is located. Most of our residential wells run from 35 to 200 feet deep. We drill down at an approved site through the subsurface material to the saturated zone where the water is located. Wells in sand and gravel must be fitted with screens to stop soil and sand particles from coming up to the pipe. (say more????)
What impact do lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams have on underground water? The answer is that it depends on where we are drilling the well. For some areas, we can tell from experience, records, and testing an estimate of the depth we may need to drill for water and the possible flow rate and quality. I can say for sure that every time we drill a well on or near a lake, river, or stream, it is a challenge. Why? Lots are usually small or tightly packed, and it is tough to find a good spot to meet setback and safety requirements and fit the drill rig in for the operations.
Thank you for this opportunity to discuss wells, which more than a million Michigan residents and thousands of businesses, schools, and farms rely on for their water. I have to say this work is exciting and sometimes stressful, but I feel proud to lead a team of skilled experts to extract groundwater for a variety of customers.