Bad Well Water,
No Contract,
Has Driller Any Liability?

by

Grant Malcolm


(Savery Island )

We have had a well drilled on Savary Island (just north of the Powell River area). The driller picked a spot near a neighboring well (that well is good), ours came with so much salt in it you can't drink it.

We had the driller send a sample to a lab and the results are shocking.

Very High In: Dissolved solids, Dissolved Chloride, Iron, Manganese and Sodium.

The Lab states: Health (Unacceptable)

When a well comes in with all of these issues, do we have anything recourse?

Thank-you...

Grant Malcolm


g1c2m3@hotmail.com

Comments for Bad Well Water,
No Contract,
Has Driller Any Liability?

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Probably be soft water Grant!
by: Colleen Roberts

Grant... I'm sorry to hear of your new well.
The driller cannot really be held accountable for quality or even a dry hole... it's buyer beware!

When drilling near the ocean your situation can easily occur... even sometimes miles from the sea in some areas. Sometimes we drill into very old sea-bed. so we may not be dealing with saltwater intrusion Grant but sodium naturally occurring in the bedrock causing brackish water.

I drilled in Victoria once and started bringing up some very old sea shells at quite a depth... I decided to abandon the hole immediately, no point in throwing good money after bad.

But we do know that usually the deeper we drill the higher the risk often as soon as we enter shale in some areas we know we can get into trouble.

I feel dowsing can be very preventative (sometimes). When deciding on a well location I will never, ever drill on one source... I want several. This may greatly reduce the risk of drilling too deep... this is not theory, I've been able to prove it.

When locating a site for drilling a water well every precaution must be well thought-out and taken but even then we can run into trouble Grant. The Park-&-Drill-Method that so many people sign-up for can be costly event but it certainly keeps some of the water well drillers in business.

Grant the well driller did what most drillers do... drilled a hole in the rock for you, they usually figure if they drill deep enough they'll hit water eventually. Asking for anything more would be like asking a cherry tree to bare plums that not what cherry trees do!

The results at the end of the day are what the bill in based on and you're the guy who pays the well drilling invoice regardless... the lack of contract will likely not matter.

Colleen Roberts
Groundwater Consultant
EOCP Certified, BC

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