Services
Redback
Drilling
Services
Siting
Whilst you are pretty much guaranteed finding water anywhere in Melbourne and many other places around the state, I can pick a site if the customer wishes using the old fashioned divining method.
I offer this as a free service for my customers. Although I do not guarantee water, my success
rate is pretty good. I will
never claim to be able to 'find' water. What
I am finding are fractures or variations in the strata
which should be
carrying water.
If you would prefer to get second opinion or an independent geophysical survey done, checkout the links page or the yellow pages for geologists and other water diviners. Under no circumstances will we guarantee the quality or quantity of the water.
Drilling
We offer a range of bores from 2" (50mm) environmental bores, ultra narrow diameter bores of 3" ( 80mm), standard domestic bores of 4" (100mm) diameter and 5" (125mm) bores for small to medium irrigation and commercial use. Maximum depth of
120m and all our bores are fully cased top to bottom, sealed and cemented.
The standard diameter for a stock and domestic or small irrigation bore is 4" or 100mm diameter and with the correct 4" submersible pump installed can deliver up to 1000gph or 75L/m. The average pop-up sprinkler uses around 7-10L/m of water and an open garden hose 16-20L/m, so as you can see by the above figures, these narrow diameter bores can deliver more than enough water for a domestic supply and even small scale irrigation.
For larger extraction rates of up to 4400gph or 330L/min you will need a 5" or 125mm bore.
When we have completed the job, we will give you a bore completion report and also send a sample of water to ALS laboratories for analysis (as per Southern Rural Water licence requirements). We do not recommend installing a pump until you have the results of this test and know what the quality of your water is as water high in salinity or any other chemical imbalance can have disastrous effects on a garden.
Drilling in Zimbabwe
All bores will come with a lifetime guarantee on construction and workmanship.
Capacity Testing
We can give a pretty good estimate on the bores yield during drilling and
development (post
drilling) and this is usually satisfactory for pump selection. In order to obtain a more accurate figure, a capacity test will need to be carried out. This involves installing a
test pump in the bore and pumping it for a pre-determined period of time (usually 3 - 5 hours for stock
and domestic, longer for irrigation) whilst monitoring the draw-down of the water level in the bore.
Old Bores
Rehabilitation (cleanouts) of old bores that have lost productivity
are carried out by various methods
ranging from mechanical to chemical
methods or a combination of these methods. Sometimes a simple
blow-out
is all that is needed (min charge of 2hr @ $250/hr).
Bore reconstruction can also be carried out in an attempt stop inflow of sand and mud into bores that have been poorly constructed or in old bores where the lining has corroded or split. This is a costly exercise and the success rate is not guaranteed. After assessing the bore, we will advise what your chances are and may even recommend that a new bore be drilled. We will also advise what licenses will be required (bore re-construction or relacement bore).
A follow-up capacity test is usually carried out prove the success of rehabilitation or reconstruction and to clear any contaminants before reinstalling the bore pump.
Because the time taken to carry out these processes can vary from several hours to several days, prices are charged at an hourly rate. In some cases it is more cost effective to de-commission the old bore and drill a new one as there is no guarantee of success in reconstruction.