Water Wells

Water Well Services in Arizona

The most valuable asset you can have for your home or business is a clean, potable, and abundant water supply. Whether it’s for home use or irrigation a water well can be the most important investment you make in your home or business. Becoming informed is the most valuable tool you have before making this investment.

What Are the Basics of a Water Well?

A well is a bored hole in the ground. Steel or plastic well casing will be placed in the bore hole to support unstable earth formations. A seal is placed at the top of the casing to prevent contamination into the well from the surface water. The stable formation beneath the casing is often the water bearing zone. In this zone a screen and gravel pack may be installed depending on the formation. After completion the well is then tested for water yield. This is done by either blowing air into the well or bailing the well. Your contractor may also perform some basic water quality tests at this point. Once construction has been completed your contractor will produce a well log which acts as a blue print for both the earth formation they encountered and a build sheet for the well. With this well log a pump contractor can design your new pump system to meet your needs.
Water Well System — Wickenburg, AZ — Universal Drilling

How Much Does it Cost to Drill a Well?

There is never an exact number until the project is finished. Each well formation can and will be different. The best thing to do is when looking over a proposal from a drilling contractor make sure they have specific pricing on the following:

  • Price of drilling per foot
  • Price and size of casing per foot
  • Cost of materials per unit “such as seal, cement, etc.”
  • Cost of development and or testing if wanted or required
  • Cost of pump system if wanted. We work with some outstanding pump contractors in most areas close to your home to help you when you are in need.

Prior to drilling a new well, or deepening or modifying an existing well, a Notice of Intent to Drill must be filed with ADWR. Forms are available on our website or on the States website. They must then be submitted to ADWR accompanied by the appropriate filing fee. If the property is less than 5 acres the County must also sign off on it with the appropriate fee. If it is over 5 acres we can usually pull a permit online. Authority to deepen an existing well or drill a new well will be valid for one year. After that, a new Notice of Intent must be filed. A licensed well-drilling contractor must perform the work.


When deciding on where to install your well, there are some criteria that must be met. The exact location of the water well must fit the following criteria and I can help you with that if you would like:
  • Away from underground utilities: telephone, gas, water, electrical, etc.
  • In a location where drill cuttings will not flow onto a neighbor's property, or into any storm drains, creeks, tributaries and/or conduits to waterways
  • It is the customer responsibility to check for easements and underground pipelines. We usually recommend that the well is placed at least ten feet from the customer's property line to provide for future access but if it is a shared well it can be right on the line. Some counties recommend 50 feet from property lines because the neighbors septic is 50 feet from the line.
  • We require a minimum 20 x 40 semi-level pad for our drilling equipment. The site must also be free from overhead trees and limbs and accessible for drill equipment, piping and maintenance and we need to make sure there are no overhead power lines. The road entering the site must be at least nine feet wide and have a clearance of fourteen feet for our equipment to enter the property, bridges entering the site will also be checked for weight capacities. We often tell customers that if a cement truck can get into the site, then we can also. You may also want to consider that the well will eventually require electricity and piping and will need to be accessible for servicing in the future.

An important factor to consider when constructing a well is the location. You will probably want to put your well close to where you will use the water and close to a power source. This will reduce your construction and energy costs well must be accessible for drilling equipment, piping and maintenance. You also need to make sure there are no overhead power lines.1. Proximity to septic tanks and sewage disposal areas. To protect the quality of your water, the State has adopted rules about well location. All wells must be at least 100 feet from septic tanks or sewage disposal areas including future expansion areas. Check with your neighbors and the county health department to make sure that your proposed well site is at least 100 feet from their septic systems. It is preferable to locate a well uphill from septic systems and as far away as practical. Before drilling you should also check to see if your county health department has additional regulations or setback requirements affecting well location.2. Proximity to certain water providers within AMA’s can also affect your, decision on installing a new well. If the well is to be located within an AMA, you can always call and check with us and we will tell you if it is located in a Active Management area or AMA. If the well is located within an AMA you can still drill well but changes might have to be made.

Different Services Provided by Universal Drilling

With over 50 plus years’ experience. We can offer you a complete water system designed to meet your needs.

Residential Water Well

A Exempt well is less than 35 gallons per minute. Can be used for domestic purposes and many other uses for the household, including stock and gardens etc.

Agricultural and Municipal Wells

Agricultural and Municipal wells are usually classified as Non-Exempt or over 35 Gallons per minute. We will work with the owner to plan and design your well to meet your needs.

Commercial Wells

Commercial Wells Small or large we will work with the owner or hydrogeologist to meet your needs.

Monitor Wells

Monitor wells that is designed and drilled for the purpose of monitoring water quality within a specific depth interval. Wells are usually designed by engineers and we will work with them to help meet their clients needs.

Clean Outs

Clean outs are usually wells that have sat for many years and left uncapped or have become low producing over the years. Usually this is due the rust or sand clogging the perforations. We can enter the hole and sometimes bring them back to life most of the time we can do this without permits. If the hole is altered or a casing is installed, we would need to get a permit.

Abandonments

Abandonments we would need to get permits to complete. These are wells which overtime are in the wrong place or a new well is needed to replace it.
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