Our Well Services at a Glance
  • Pump Replacement
  • Pressure Tank Replacement
  • Removal of Sediment
  • Improve Flow Rates
  • Well Hydrocleaning
  • Well Liners
  • Abandonment Services
  • Well Video Inspection
  • Well Diagnostics
  • We service wells, but don't drill them.
  • TWS is based in Hillsborough NC 27278.

photo of TWS techs restoring a water well.
 

What is a Well?

A drilled well consists of a hole bored into the ground, with the upper part being lined with casing. The casing prevents the collapse of the borehole walls and (with a drive shoe or grout seal) prevents surface or subsurface contaminants from entering the water supply. The casing also provides a housing for a pumping mechanism and for the pipe that moves water from the pump to the surface.

Ground water is rarely polluted, and if so, in most cases it is easily treated. Ground water from deep, drilled wells is naturally filtered and is cool, natural, and pure. By contrast, most surface water (lakes and rivers) is severely polluted and must be treated before drinking.

Ground water is a renewable, reliable resource. Deep drilled wells recharge themselves. A deep drilled well will not fluctuate with dry weather and provides a constant, steady supply of water.

Bio-Fouling of Wells

Bio-Fouling refers to excessive bacterial growth in a well so that the well becomes dirty causing premature pump failure, water pipes stopping up, water filters stopping up, water heaters loading up with red mud-like deposits, difficulty keeping clothes clean, dirty water coming out of the faucets and much, much more. We have learned from studies by microbiologists that there are six strains of slime-producing bacteria that naturally occur in wells. These six strains are considered to be non-pathogenic (not capable of producing disease in humans) but they are invasive and will eventually make a well unusable if not managed. Wells can contain from none to any or all of the six different strains.

Read more...

There is rather expensive testing available to be able to identify which bacteria strains are present and which are not. We believe that spending $800.00+ is a waste just to identify whatever combination of slime producing bacteria is present. The actual species seems to vary according to the chemistry and actual use of the well. Much of what we discuss will come from our own real-world experience with a sprinkling of information from other sources, but there does not seem to be much data available—the issue seems to have not been thoroughly studied on a widespread basis.

We use the words "excessive growth of bacteria" rather than "the presence of bacteria" as we have seen no data to indicate that it is even possible to have a bacteria-free well. It certainly seems close to impossible in the rest of our world as well. A favorite quote of mine is from a seminar at a National Ground Water Association yearly convention from a presenter, Neil Munsay. (1)(2) Neil is a microbiologist who has been involved in the study and upkeep of wells for many years. He stated, "It is impossible to remove bacteria from wells, one can only manage and control it". We frequently have customers say to us, "My well has been tested for bacteria and it is clean". Unless something is out of the ordinary, wells were only tested for coliform and e.coli using a presence/absence test that is not completely reliable. There are many bacteria (pathogenic and non-pathogenic) not tested for at all by the private testing labs nor by the health authorities in general. So a bacteria-free well is impossible. We believe that any "clean" finding is at best a snapshot in time and usually only covers coliform and e.coli.

How is the red/brown water, the slimy black stains or odors from a well explained by local, state and national "experts"? Answers such as bad grout around a well casing, bad water bearing water zone, improper pump placement, iron loading, and so forth are given with regularity. After many years of trying many so-called solutions and finding that virtually all of them didn't solve the problem or only fixed the problem temporarily, we began to look outside of the usual answers.

So what does all of this mean? Scattered around the country, some well and pump contractors are finding real answers to "what does one do when a bio-fouled well is the problem?" The simple answer is to clean the well and to set up a maintenance schedule so the bacteria does not re-grow and re-foul the well. There are many ways to accomplish this cleaning and almost all of these methods are outlined in a National Ground Water Position Paper. (3)

We are more than willing to answer any additional questions you may have on this problem. Please call us 919-732-1578 and we will go over your options.

(1)(2)
Water Well Rehabilitation (1999) by Neil Mansuy
Microbiology of Well Biofouling (1999) by Roy Cullimore
Application of Heat and Chemicals in Control of Biofouling Events (1999) by George Alford and Roy Cullimore
(3)
Iron Bacteria
Residential Well Cleaning
Water Well Rehabilitation
Published by National Ground Water Association
www.ngwa.org  |  www.wellowner.org

TWS Water Well Restoration Services

What is Well Hydro-Cleaning (also known as Well Hydrofracking)?

The Water Specialist has been servicing wells, well pumps and water treatment systems in the Research Triangle and surrounding areas since 1974. We have seen many wells being replaced needlessly over the years. ALL wells slow down in water production with the passing of time. Some wells take only a few years to become inadequate, others slow down more slowly, but they ALL slow down and become useless. This is simply because the cracks, fissures or fractures that feed the well have become so stopped up that water can only flow into the well at a slow rate or not at all. Or as in the case of a newly drilled slow producing well, the fissures were never accessed nor cleaned out at all.

So when the inevitable slowdown happens or you drill a "DRY" hole, why not fix your well instead of replacing it? Normally it is a lot cheaper, creates much less mess on your property, and has a much higher percentage of success than drilling another non producing hole in the ground. Wells that did produce water can be working again almost 100% of the time by using "Hydrofracture". Also wells that do not produce water upon drilling can and will produce water nearly 100% of the time. Actually the word HYDROFRACTURE is an incorrect usage when referring to water wells as we do not really FRACTURE anything, we actually HYDRO-CLEAN wells. A key point to remember is that wells are not normally "dry". The feeder fractures are simply stopped up and can easily be cleaned by using HYDRO-CLEAN. Also almost all wells in rock already have NATURALLY occurring fissures that are capable of supplying water to a well, they are just stopped-up. For accuracy we will use the word HYDRO-CLEAN instead of HYDROFRACTURE, FRACK, or other similar words that really confuse what we do with what we do not do.

How Hydro-Cleaning Works

We lower a large high strength aluminum pipe down the well shaft to the bottom of the well or 800 ft (whichever is shallower) and on the end of that pipe are two long (6+ ft.) expandable plug devices (called packers). These two packers are separated by an even heavier aluminum pipe usually 40 ft long. From the surface we hydraulically expand both packers simultaneously. This effectively creates an isolation zone approximately 40 ft long. From the surface we force high pressure water down the pipe and out through holes in the top section of the lower packer into the isolation zone. Water cannot go up or down because the packer seals prevent it from leaking. So if the water moves out of the 40 ft isolation zone it can only do so horizontally.

If there are stopped-up NATURAL fractures available for water to enter, then the Hydro-Cleaning process starts to work. If there is not a NATURAL fracture in this 40 ft isolation section of your well, our system will simply shut down at a maximum pressure of 3000 psi at which time we move our equipment upward 40 ft. to the next SET work location and try again. If on the other hand an existing NATURAL fracture starts to accept the high pressure water we are forcing under pressure down the pipe, we will then begin to open and clean out that fracture. This Hydro-Cleaning cleanout process may take as much as one hour per site or "SET" as we call it, and will require lots of water (300 to 800 gallons). We then continue to repeat SETS in 40 ft increments until we stop at a safe distance from the casing bottom. Depending on the circumstances, we may do as many as 18 sets in a well. To make sure of our results we always perform a before Hydro-Cleaning well recovery (yield) test followed by an after Hydro-Cleaning well recovery test. We will then apply a new label to your well indicating the new production rate. View our Well Hydro-Cleaning Raw Data on all the wells we have Hydro-Cleaned since 2005 and you can make up your mind if it works or not.

To learn more about the Hydro-Cleaning process, click the images below.

Hydro-Cleaning Image 1
Zone Fracking for Maximum Yield

When maximum yield is needed, "zone" or "straddle" fracking is utilized. Two packers are lowered down the well isolating a specific "zone" to be Hydro-Cleaned.

Hydro-Cleaning Image 2
Zone after zone cleared

Once that zone has been freed of its obstructions, the process is repeated at even intervals until the entire well has been Hydro-Cleaned.

Hydro-Cleaning Image 3
Maximum Yield

By concentrating the injection to where it is most needed, zone-fracturing insures optimum yield.

 

What Can Hydro-Cleaning Do for
a Low Producing Well?

We've kept detailed records of our Hydro-Cleaning history. The numbers speak for themselves. View our Well Hydro-Cleaning Data raw data.

Learn more by reading Frequently Asked Questions about Well Hydro-Cleaning.

Question: I do not know if my information is true or not but I have heard many bad things about Hydrofracture in oil and gas wells. How do I know the process will not mess up my water well?
Answer: Hydrofracture in the form used in oil and gas wells actually fractures or breaks the rock within those wells. However our Hydro-Cleaning process flushes and cleans your water well so the natural forces of nature can fill it for you.

Question: My neighbors well is about 100 ft downhill from my slow producing well and his well is producing a much higher volume of water. My two questions are 1. Can I expect to be able to tap into a common supply? 2. Will his well be affected?
Answer: Hydro-geologists refer to a "zone of influence" around a well. This is where that well can, in theory, be influenced by what happens near it. That zone of influence is usually said to be a rough 100ft circle around the well. From actual experience we believe that the affected zone is somewhat smaller and not very consistent in shape. We have HYDROFLUSHED wells as close as 25 ft and nothing has occurred with the second well. Should there be a connecting fracture/fissure already in the rock and the flushing opens that connection, both wells will improve their respective yields so when it rarely happens it results in a win for both parties. But it is quite uncommon for Hydro-Cleaning to connect with another well or its supply.

Question: I have heard from other sources that another company takes less than a day to hydrofracture a well and you have said that you will take 2 to 3 days for the same well. I can see if it is taking your company 3 times as long to work on the same well, you will have to charge more, so why are you so slow?
Answer: It is not a matter of efficiency, it is a question of being thorough. It is virtually impossible for two technicians to properly Hydro-Clean your well in one day under the best of circumstances. There are people who actually take one day to do a well, however they choose to deliver an inferior product to you - so inferior that it is a waste of money and you might as well not do the procedure. Feel free to call me personally and I will show you the differences and let you decide! —Ray Sparrow

chart of well improvement data showing percentage increase in GPM.