Well that's a bummer.
Dave, I would assume even a rig used to drill a water well would have a fitting to pump something (water?) into the well through the pipe while drilling to keep the bit cool and flush the dirt out. Is mud not needed for water wells?
On the other hand, would drilling a typical water well flush out enough clay to seal a forage pond? Hopefully my question makes sense...I might just be picturing this all wrong. I don't have any drilling experience.
what DD1 describes sounds like air rotary. this is how my water wells were drilled in my consolidated bedrock. there are several different drilling methods used for water wells including hollow stem auger, mud rotary, air rotary, air rotary casing hammer, sonic, etc, etc...
mud rotary is typically chosen for unconsolidated formations where the borehole is suspected to easily collapse once the drill string is removed, or where great depths are needed.
one can use air rotary in consolidated formations and it is much neater than mud. its based on a rotary or hammer bit with compressed air used to force cutting to the surface. there is also air rotary casing hammer (ARCH) which drives an outer steel casing simultaneously with drilling the hole...this like mud rotary is good for unconsolidated formations but typically costs more than mud.
you could drill your water well with a variety of methods, but it would be wise to spec the job and bid it out. if you are doing this just for the mud, you might find it cheaper to drill the well w/ one method and obtain the mud from a supplier (like george mentioned)...the amount of mud you would get from drilling is totally dependant on the depth and diameter of hole you ultimately drill....hard to say....what depths are the aquifers?
