Thread: To sink a Bore?

We put one down about 8 years ago quote for a cased 6inch bore was $100 /metre. Thank fully we only went 40m down and got enough for the gardens and stock. Another $3500 to equip with a submersible pump. I did the power myself. It has been going a beauty ever since.

How To Drill Your Own Water Well In Your Yard | TheInfoMine

dad driled one using a pool pump, some iron water pipe and patience!!
(but that was in clay based sa soil)

Originally Posted by jonesfam

Folks
We have a few acres on the Western end of the Atherton Tablelands near Ravenshoe. It has 2 creeks both of which dry out during the dry season & a small dam which also dries during the winter. The place is very rocky but has heaps of tall timber & a few million years ago was formed volcanically.
Now for the question.
We were thinking of putting a bore down near the dam to keep it full all year so we could irrigate from the dam during the dry & fire season.
Does anybody have any idea how much dropping a bore costs? What is involved? Additional expenses?
I look forward to your replies with anticipation.
Jones

It depends on how far down the water table is. Have you had it divined to see if there is underground water there? If it is volcanic country there is a fair chance that it will be pretty hard to drill. Where are we talking about, Innot hot springs, Herberton, or in that area somewhere?

Originally Posted by jonesfam

Folks
We have a few acres on the Western end of the Atherton Tablelands near Ravenshoe. It has 2 creeks both of which dry out during the dry season & a small dam which also dries during the winter. The place is very rocky but has heaps of tall timber & a few million years ago was formed volcanically.
Now for the question.
We were thinking of putting a bore down near the dam to keep it full all year so we could irrigate from the dam during the dry & fire season.
Does anybody have any idea how much dropping a bore costs? What is involved? Additional expenses?
I look forward to your replies with anticipation.
Jones

Can't help with the bore info but ita a lovely spot up there, we have done some work recently for Tablelands Regional Council, enjoyed my time up there at Mt Garnet, Millaa Millaa, Yungaburra, Dimbulah and Mareeba.

Regards Gordo

Bearman
No we haven't had anybody do anything yet.
It is very rocky, but we think the water-table is pretty high because there are several springs in the area (unfortunately not on our place) & water just comes out of the hills after a bit of rain. It just seeps out of the ground.
Also we have some huge trees, when cyclone Larry knocked a few over we found they have very shallow roots, huge spread but no depth.
Guadough
Yes a great spot. We are just West of Ravenshoe, about 10k, with the Millstream as 1 boundary. It is the area where all the WW2 army blokes trained before they went to New Guinea & Borneo etc. We have found a exploded Bazooka round & 1/2 a grenade on our place.
We are down in the valley so know one even knows we are there.
How long before I retire? Too long!
Jonesfam

Originally Posted by jonesfam

Bearman
No we haven't had anybody do anything yet.
It is very rocky, but we think the water-table is pretty high because there are several springs in the area (unfortunately not on our place) & water just comes out of the hills after a bit of rain. It just seeps out of the ground.
Also we have some huge trees, when cyclone Larry knocked a few over we found they have very shallow roots, huge spread but no depth.
Guadough
Yes a great spot. We are just West of Ravenshoe, about 10k, with the Millstream as 1 boundary. It is the area where all the WW2 army blokes trained before they went to New Guinea & Borneo etc. We have found a exploded Bazooka round & 1/2 a grenade on our place.
We are down in the valley so know one even knows we are there.
How long before I retire? Too long!
Jonesfam

Sounds like a great place you have there. If the water table is that high and you are in a valley I don't think you are going to have to drill very deep to find water even in the dry, however the rocks could give the driller a bit of curry. What about a small dam, if you have a stream as a border it might be worth looking at. Lots or ordnance around North Queensland where the US and Aussie troops had training camps, some still unexploded. Great place to retire.

You can sink a bore 5m from a productive bore and get no water, it just depends on the area. The first thing to do is to get some advice, either from a dowser/diviner or from a tech based location system.

The next issue is water quality, and some information could be gained from neighbours with bores. I have four bores (and a 475ML license!) and the water from the two main bores is quite hard and high in magnesium bicarbonates. Fine for stock water, though very long term use could possibly cause kidney problems. It's just OK for irrigation if managed correctly. I tried using it untreated and straight from the ground as the only water for potted citrus, and had some problems. Another bore perhaps 300m has far higher salt (NaCl) levels, and I wouldn't use the water for irrigation at all.

The most expensive bore to drill is one that either produces no water, or unusable water!

We sank a bore on a small acreage about 20 years ago, several neighbouring properties had productive bores about 70ft deep, we did not strike water until 154 feet down, paying $20 per foot at that time. It is always something of a gamble. The deeper you end up, the more expensive the pump to get the water out; at 70ft we were anticipating using a surface mounted pump at $700 (these work on a venturi system whereby they push a small amount of water down the bore which draws a larger quantity of water back up). At 154ft we required a submersible pump that cost 3 times that much.

The property we are on now has a bore about 50 meters deep that produces water suitable for stock and garden (vege etc) irrigation. Had to replace the submersible pump a couple of years ago, cost $3000.00 We would be lost without the bore though.

To sink a bore capable of supplying enough water to irrigate a commercial crop i.e. keeping a dam filled whilst you irrigate out of it, you would be looking at least $20k.