October 1, 2012 Update & “We Got Water!!!”

The chill is in the air but we aren't complaining.  It has been a great fall and it remains pretty active, both for fall as well as 2013. We already have over a dozen surveys booked across the west for next spring. Our recent travels took us from N to S BC to bring us completely caught up on bookings there, and last week into SK. We did  leave a couple of bookings behind there and picked up 1 more in SK since so a few more to do there before freeze up.

The next loop(s) will take us up to N. AB to Westlock and east as far as St. Paul. We may continue SE from there for couple of the bookings in SK though might just tackle those the next week as it may allow us to pick up another survey or 2  in central and south SK which will help those clients avoid  mileage charges. Most of these fall surveys are forward planning for next year so clients are able to book drillers for either just before the frost goes out, or for first thing after the road restrictions come off in spring and things dry up a little.

With Thanksgiving coming close we do  need to extend our gratitude to some of past clients and a couple of  the well drillers that know us. In the last few weeks we have completed  6 surveys that were a direct result of referrals from happy clients and well drillers. Advertising works but there is nothing as satisfying as obtaining more jobs as a result of a  referral from a satisfied client.

The “We Got Water!!!” in the heading  is from an email sent by a MB client in September who finally got water after we did a survey early this spring and after he had already done 3 dry holes prior on a small cottage lot. He had to wait most of the summer for the driller he wanted. He emailed as follows:

" We drilled on the north west corner of our lot on Tuesday and went to 137 feet, where there was approx. 4 feet of sand just above the granite.   We pumped all night and the well stayed consistent with 3 gallons per minute . So we are obviously very happy."

The recommendation in the report was as follows:

The data indicates that site 3DP1 has the highest interpreted yield (low Category B) and presents the site to be the best of those surveyed for one to consider developing a water well. The data indicates that the bulk of any water that may be available at site 3DP1 will likely be obtained above 45 meters bgs (below ground surface) with the slight possibility of additional yield if drilled to 70 meters bgs which should be considered as the maximum depth to drill. 

Our yield estimates in reports are rated in Categories. A Category B is 3-5 gpm . 

September 4, Snow on the Peaks

Looking west to the mountain peaks this morning from my office, the snow that has been visible part of the last couple of weeks is pretty much gone again but the crisp mornings and cooler days suggest it may not be long before its back. I like the look of white peaks but do hope we do not get “white” lower down anytime soon. Still work to get done.

We returned from SK a week ago completing 4 of 5 surveys. With the rain in SK costing us 2 days, and time commitments on AB surveys we had to leave one survey near Maple Creek undone. All good though as within 2 days of getting back to AB, we had booked 2 more surveys on the west side of SK nearby.  Now current near home the next few of weeks will take us to Edmonton, W. SK and again North into BC as far as Chetwynd. We also have to loop into S. BC (Vernon and Castlegar) to complete surveys there.

There are years when we have worked thru till late November  and even December in S.AB and SK with very little frost but our bookings definitely slow after September and early October. As a result, the later in the season, the higher the likelihood of mileage charges in most areas other than S. AB so if drilling a well is on the horizon for fall or early spring, book as soon as you can to avoid the surcharges.

August 18, East/West Schedule Updates

We have been getting some calls and emails from potential clients saying we should  try to BLOG our travels in advance a little better once we know we are headed in a certain direction to give them a bit of a heads up. This way they will know we might be getting close to them. Clients comments that they have been to the website, visited the blog, and though interested do not book or contact us right away. Then reviewing our site, or contacting us a week or 2  later  find out that we had just been through there area,  just days after they were first on the web site. They comment  " had we known how close you were going to be, we would have booked a survey". Instead, when they do contact us a little to late,  they either have to wait till we get a group of surveys again in the area,  or face mileage surcharges to get us there. We will try to get a little ahead of the "wagon"  in an effort to correct this.  We do want to save clients (as well as our own) travel costs when we can.

We always maintain  a list of clients that call or email us of their interst in a survey and use email notification or calls to keep them in the "loop" which is still the best. Up till now we have not really tried to do that on our blog.  This is in part because in spring most of the time we have committed to a travel schedule that is laid out for when the the ground thaws. Added  to that, the spring schedule fills the first 8-10 weeks of our season and so not always easy to fit in surveys.  That said we can do this later in the year and at times, even in spring as we allow for some flexibility due to an allowance we make in the schedule.(for 2 bad weather days each week). In a "good weather" year or early spring, this can allow us to fit in additional surveys without effecting completion dates we have committed to on early bookings.

So our travels the next while...

The next few days will be focused on completing  surveys in Southern AB.  We expect to be headed down HWY 1 as far south as Regina  later next week (maybe as far as Virden, MB) . On our return  home we may do a couple of surveys in central AB, and will stock up and head west into BC in the first part of September. Right now we will had as far west as as Kelowna and from there back home on the south route for surveys on route thru Creston and Castlegar. Mostly like direction for travels  in mid September will be to N. AB. and possibly NE BC.

Mid-August 2012, Color in the Leaves

This summer has been full of surprises with dramatic changes in weather and with our summer bookings. Between the hail and hard rains,  and with color in the leaves in some areas even a couple of weeks ago,  I prefer to think it’s the hail damage rather than fall.  

The spring and early summer bookings kept us hopping right thru Stampede and up till early August.  Usually by late July we are a little quieter, waiting on crops and hay to get cut,  but it was pretty steady.  We are now at the time when some farmers want us to wait a couple of weeks till their less busy but its offset somewhat by an increase in acreage development again..

With all the international news and stress for most of the world on avoiding and worrying about recession,  from our business perspective things improved a fair bit in Western Canada this year compared to the last 2.

We did notice the real estate slow down the last couple of years mainly due to less acreage development. There seemed to be less demand for acreages or maybe an oversupply,  so with less development, less wells needed,  so less surveys. On the other side farmers and ranchers demand did improve during this same period which continues though more in in the beef sector. Ranchers were enjoying a healthy market with many seeming to plan for improvements on  water supply so it  would not be a limiting factor on increasing production. Now given the drought in the USA the market should stay up for some time.

We have done  3 loops to date this year thru most areas of Western Canada, covering sites located as far east as Lake Winnipeg to as far west  as Ashcroft BC and as far north as La Crete, AB. We expect to hit most areas in the west at least once with 2-3  loops into our busier areas. As always, especially off the beaten track, book early to avoid mileage charges. 

July - Calgary Stampede

Coming up on the Calgary Stampede and this year we planned more to be working closer to home this next while so we could take in more of the festivities than we have in past summers. Most of our survey work will be in S AB during the next couple of weeks though we do expect to get at surveys in the southeast corner of BC as well.

By about the middle of July we expect to head into N AB again as far north as La Crete and then cut across to Fort St. John and Chetwynd for a few surveys there before working our way back again. Returning home to regroup we will then head into SK and MB for the the booked surveys there heading east on HWY 1 at least till Brandon and then work back West on HWY 16 to Edmonton. With the bookings in hand now, it’s unlikely we will get into southern BC again much before the 2^nd or 3^rd week in August.

Though we have been caught with more rain-out days on the road this year than ever before (and long road closures),  we aren’t complaining as the very early start in SK and MB this spring let us get enough surveys done that we are well ahead of previous years.

As always book early.. It helps us and it will be cheaper for you.  

June Update

Just a quick update as we get thru our busy spring season mostly caught up in Ab and SK and on the road to BC to do our early bookings there. We head North to Fort St. John, then Chetwynd, after which we will head back down thru Prince George and then head to Merritt for surveys, with a couple of more on the way back home. We may be heading further south in BC from HWY 1 pending word from a client in Vernon though that may end up being done with a second loop in June. Makes more sense to head in in from the south end of BC instead, thru Creston,  and then back up to Penticton, Vernon, and Salmon Arm. 

In addtion to getting current on AB surveys we expect to fit in a loop in SK which will get us caught up on bookings to date by early July. That said  we already have post haying and harvest bookings for later in the summer.

Our Number 1 Question

Do We Need a Survey in our area?

I just had a call today and this was the question that came up first. And really most times, after giving me a bit of a description of their situation, the area, and the yield of wells the neighbors may have, this is most often the first question a caller will ask after saying they found us on the Web.  With this question I have to think that someone has said to them that water may be tough to find where they are,  or they or their neighbor have had trouble with a new or existing well. 

 If your thinking of drilling in a known dry belt our answer is its' always a good idea but even if it may appear to be a reasonable good groundwater area, we consider our survey a very wise investment in nearly any situation. From doing side by side small lot developments, both big and small, we know that wells only 30-40 meters apart can often vary by more than 100+ % in yield and sometimes depth. If its 20 vs.30 gpm not so big a deal as both are lots of water,  but when its 1 or 2 gpm it is, or might become one the first time you water your garden and try to shower at the same time. When you get into the areas just off the foothills and into mountains, the variance can be even worse, and it becomes possible to miss water by a few inches. 

Though we have seen and experienced this on a few larger projects our best example is a 40 acre property we surveyed  a couple of years ago that was eventually developed into 10 lots in southern AB. Before our survey the clients had drilled on one of the proposed lots and got 2-3 gpm and then proceeded to drill 3-4 fairly deep DRY HOLES on different lots.We are talking thousands of dollars up in smoke. at That point they gave us a call and we surveyed each of the remaining 9 lots with an average of 4 sounding sites per lot the following weekend. After analyzing the data we considered most of the surveyed sites medium to very high risk  for successful well development but as directed by the client we selected potential sites from what data presented as the the best sounding site to drill on, for each lot. They started on the strongest sites and went on from there, best to worse.  The driller obtained water on each of the 9 lots though one lot (the last one) required a 2^nd attempt, due to the pump testing not being better than the 1 gpm required to license that lot for development. The range in depth on the 10 completed wells varied between 27 meters to 90 meters with yields varying from 1 to 9 gpm. In dollars that meant somewhere close to $3000 cost for the 27 meter and the deepest one at close to 10,000.00. Sometimes there are no options and there is only one good shot but note that some of the most expensive holes had the lesser yields. 

This project showed us very clearly how different the yield and depths can turn out in pretty close proximity to one another. It was only a 1/4 of a 1/4 section. That is not that much ground at surface. So yes at the time  we expected some variation but not as much as there was.  That was before this particular survey and this is now.

A survey will most times maximize your return on investment as well as the yield you can acquire.There are instances where we simply say don't drill because the data just didn't show us enough water from the work we did to go after so we save you from the cost of an expensive dry hole. Each sounding site we do for a survey is the next best thing to doing actual test holes with a typical 4- 6 site survey most often costing less than a cost of single 120 foot dry hole.

For our clients the right location for the well on the property may make the difference on being able to have enough water for the house and a cattle operation, water for trees and the garden, vs. barely enough for the house and and keeping a small flower bed watered or simply not being able to subdivide a few acres because water availability isn't proven for the site. Ask a Realtor. Good ones that know acreages, should be able to fully advise you on the particulars for a well on a property and the value a good well can add. If they don't it is something you should check yourself before ever buying a property. Really if you are looking at buying a country property its a good question to test a realtor. If he can't answer, water being as important as it is on the country,  find a different one.

The second Question  asked? ...  "How do you go about it?"

Feel free to call us on our toll-free or email with any questions you might have. 

Spring 2012

The first day of spring calls for an update.  We are waiting on calls from the areas where the frost is out to schedule the start of this seasons runs. From the warm temperatures across the west, particularly in MB, it almost seems like we may have to start further east this year. It is still a little early to make that call but if we do start east of AB it would be the first time in 4-5 years. The equipment is ready though and we fully expect to hit the road a few weeks earlier than last year.

What we will say is that we have surveys booked for right across the west at this point which will bring us into Western MB, South and SE  SK, to North of Saskatoon,  and then along Hwy 16 west to Westlock, AB with surveys all along the way. At this point just not sure of the first direction we will take but getting in stirking distance to most areas. Once we start it will take us about 5-6 weeks to get the rush bookings completed so if you are on the route and want to avoid or reduce mileage charges that we sometimes have to  add thru the summer, book now! We expect it may be late May early June before we can get to the 2^nd round of surveys in SK and MB.

With memories of weather and mountain avalanches forcing us to lose days holed up in hotels  in spring with our busiest time, it’s has become our practice to do the first round thru the central provinces before heading into BC to avoid that. That said it we should get there by mid-May. Kelowna, Kamloops and possibly Williams Lake are on the first round there so far.

The talk on fuel prices is like it gets to be every spring though sounding worse this year with news suggesting and commenting that it may be the highest ever. As always lots of lead time in booking will help avoid excessive mileage charges as it allows us group surveys for economy. 

World Water Day March 22

Find it Here

http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/

Gearing Up!

Bookings and interest in surveys is way up for surveys this year in all likelihood due to the lack of snow this winter pretty much across the west. We have nearly twice the bookings now than we had at the end of April last year. Word is the dugouts won’t be near as full in some areas so the farming sector in general, particularly the ranchers, are motivated to develop additional groundwater sources especially when all they have are dugouts. With what appears to a rosy outlook for beef for the next while they simply don’t want to be hampered by water shortages for what are likely to be larger herds then in the past few years.

If they aren’t already aware it’s a good time for farmers and ranchers to check out the Growing Forward Program in Alberta as our surveys, like water well drilling, are again eligible for support as part of farm and ranch water development programs.

With the exceptionally mild weather wouldn’t be surprised to see the frost out in early April or even late March at least in southern AB allowing us to get going on surveys. Twice in the last 7 years we actually started the last week of March here in AB with our latest start being in 2009 with the first survey a week into May. Last year was also nearly as late.

As always do book early to avoid mileage charges. Spring early summer and fall we typically have enough work to get to most areas in western Canada that we can spread the costs and avoid surcharges but with fuel where its’ at again we will be implementing surcharges anytime we have to travel to far.