The Project

 One of Peerless Well & Pump’s (PWP) longstanding clients is the City of Platteville, WI.  PWP has worked on nearly all their wells since the early 1980’s.

In 2018 Platteville issued a public bid request for drilling new Well #6, providing site and facility modifications to tie Well 6 into the existing Well #4 and then abandon Well #4.  Municipal Well & Pump (MWP), the parent company of Peerless, was awarded the project by the City.

Inspecting the Pipe

 The project began with the MWP drilling crew arriving on site October 30, 2018.  The crew was headed up by Darwin Schulz – a lead driller for MWP with more than 30 years of drilling experience.  The process involved reverse circulation drilling with our Foremost DR24HD drill rig along with a settling tank to filter out drill cuttings and to contain fluids for a clean, dry & safe well construction site.

Construction

 During construction of the well a sloughing shale layer was encountered from 393’ to 430’ which prompted a revised construction plan.  The difficult formation was continually swelling, caving in, filled up the drill hole and plugged up the drill tools.  A plan was developed between MWP, consulting engineering firm Strand Associates, Inc.® of Madison, WI and the DNR to modify the well construction and to utilize the “Barber Drilling” features of the drill rig by installing casing down to 390’ and then barber drilling the hole to 430’ (entails installing casing and drilling at the same time).  The plan worked perfectly, and the well was completed.

Final Design

• Barber drilled 24” well casing down to 30’
• Drilled 23” open hole to 390’
• Installed 20” casing to 390’
• Barber Drilled 20” down to 430’ and grouted from 390’ up. 
• Drilled 19” open hole to 500’
• Installed and grouted 16” to 500’
• Drilled final 15” open hole to 965’

Result

 The well passed the AWWA alignment tests with flying colors having an actual drift of 7.6” at 740’ versus an allowable of 75.2”.  After test pumping for 24 hours at 1,483 GPM, the well had a specific capacity of 8.70 (drawing down 171’).  MWP installed the Baker pitiless adapter and the final pump a 9 Stage Goulds 11CHC with a 12” 200 HP SME motor to a total depth of 524’.

The final mechanical, inside piping and well house modifications were completed by MZ Construction out of Livingston, WI.  Overall, the project was successfully completed July 2019.