Borehole Surveys Are Necessary For Accurate Drilling
Finding viable aquifers on a property is a science. Anyone who claims to be able to find water using a forked stick and some elbow grease is either a scam artist or not of sound mind. You cannot just look at a plot of land, swing a stick around, and expect to find water. Any water found this way is mostly by chance and detracts from the real (and rather exciting) scientific process behind aquifer location and exploration drilling.
One of the first steps in locating a viable aquifer is through carrying out various borehole surveys. These investigations produce a lot of data that can help a company like Inyati to determine whether an aquifer is viable and whether or not drilling can proceed. The attributes that make an aquifer viable, which will be explained further in the article below, can usually only be determined through extensive borehole surveys and data analysis. Without such data, any drilling project will be nothing more than pure guesswork. Not to mention being a significant liability, both in terms of finances and safety.
The Data We Collect From Borehole Surveys
Before a well can be drilled, the drilling company needs to determine whether it is a viable project in the first place. In other words, the well will need to serve its basic function of producing water at a steady rate and in a reasonable capacity. If it cannot perform this function, then there is very little point in drilling. To help us determine whether a drilling project can proceed, we need to determine whether or not there are any aquifers present on the property, whether or not those aquifers are large enough to deliver a sustainable amount of water, whether or not they are easily accessible, and whether it is safe to drill them. During this process, we will also be able to determine if the water is safe for drinking or irrigation.
The first set of data we usually look at is visual. We inspect the property to see if there are any natural bodies of water nearby, or if the natural terrain is conducive to any kind of drilling project. The general variance in elevation on the property is also important, as water tends to collect more easily in troughs (under valleys or low-lying areas) than under hills. This step serves as a starting point for other types of data collection in borehole surveys.
Once a property has passed the visual inspection, we can proceed with the next set of data collection. Borehole surveys tend to include various tests for this purpose, such as core sampling and radar exploration. Core sampling can give us valuable information about mineral formations in the area, such as indicating the presence of dolomite or other porous and fragile rock types that can potentially collapse due to drilling activity. It can also give us information on the chemicals present in the soil and groundwater (and whether those chemicals are safe for consumption). Radar exploration penetrates the surface of the soil with acoustics (soundwaves), which gives us a highly accurate picture of the size and shape of rock formations (which could impact drilling). Once all the data is collected, drilling can commence.
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Contact us if you want to know more about how Inyati uses borehole surveys in our projects.