Completing a Well Abandonment on Your Twin Falls, Idaho Property

09 Apr Completing a Well Abandonment on Your Twin Falls, Idaho Property

If you have a well on your Twin Falls, Idaho property that is no longer in use, does not provide adequate water or simply is in such disrepair that it cannot be fixed, you may need to call upon Apex Drilling to assist with an abandonment. So many of our customers want to keep their unusable wells for “a just in case”, however there is way more harm than good leaving those wells alone.  Also known as decommissioning, the abandonment process involves filling the well and sealing it so it cannot pose any danger to the health and safety of anyone that may be around it. Abandoning wells is also very important to the protection of the aquifer.

Why Complete the Well Abandonment Procedure?

If you have an unused well on your property, there are many reasons to complete a proper abandonment. In addition to protecting those that you care about from being injured by an open well, it also protects you from the liability issues that can arrive from an improperly sealed well. Wells are designed to be open conduits to the aquifer and proper abandonment also helps to prevent contamination of your ground water while also preventing hydrologic changes from occurring in your aquifer system.

How is an Abandonment Completed?

To complete the abandonment process, we must first clear the borehole of obstruction. This may include pulling pipes, pumps, wiring, air lines and other obstructions. Existing casing that cannot be removed is dug around and cut off below ground surface. The well is filled with aggregates allowing continued movement of the aquifer. Next, the well is filled with approved material such as bentonite, that will swell and seal off the well bore prohibiting any possible contaminates to reach the aquifer. After the well has been filled entirely, the ground surface is returned to grade. At Apex Drilling, we take great care to ensure that your well is abandon properly to protect not only those you care about, but also our natural ground water resource. Contact us today to learn more!

After the contents are removed the casing is excavated around.

Casing being cut off below ground, removing hazard to people and equipment

Bentonite being used to fill borehole creating a seal between the surface and the aquifer 

Returning ground to natural grade.