Frequently Asked Questions

Tom Schroeder Rotary Drilling And Pump Company are proud to provide our customers with the highest quality products and service. To serve your needs most effectively and ensure that your well and water system are what you require, we provide custom estimates rather than prices using a preset fee. 

This is due to numerous unknown considerations that can arise during the drilling process, such as the depth needed to reach an adequate water supply and the types of geological formations encountered during drilling. This approach benefits you because you only pay for the products and labor required for your unique water well system. Our estimation method allows you to choose the pump brand, horsepower, and flow required for your specific needs.

The pump selection can also affect the duration and reliability of your warranty. Estimate totals will vary depending on pump selection. Our pump of choice, Franklin Electric J-Class, is backed by its customer service division which is second to none. Franklin Electric J-class pumps are still manufactured in America.

J-Class offers a more reliable warranty that can be up to five years. Old American brands such as Red Jacket, ITT Goulds, Aeromotor, Myers, Sta-Rite, and Berkeley are now manufactured using motors with the CentriPro and Pentek brands. Their components are manufactured in China and only "assembled" in America. 

We will always recommend the best products that fit your needs, whether for home, agricultural, or commercial purposes.

Portland Cement or Bentonite?

Portland cement is more expensive and labor-intensive to install; however, we feel it provides a more reliable casing seal. In all cases, we use cement grout which is Portland cement mixed with water. The mix gives the grout the consistency of a thin slurry, allowing it to find its way to the bottom of the casing through the limited opening around it. It is poured into the well in most cases, and its consistency allows it to flow freely past any obstructions that sometimes fall into the hole while the casing is being installed. It can find its way past most obstacles so that it ends up around the bottom of the casing, where it seals the surface casing as intended. It makes for a solid permanent seal for the surface casing and ensures for years to come that no surface water contamination is introduced into the potable water source below the surface casing. 

Bentonite is another form of grout used by some drillers in Missouri. It comes in many forms: 3/6 inch chips, 1/4 inch pellets with a slow dissolving coding, and a powder form to be mixed with water, making a very thick and almost solid slurry. In most cases, the 3/8 inch chips are used by pouring the chips out of the bag around the casing in dry form. Bentonite is a clay mined from various areas in the United States. Its characteristics are that it rapidly absorbs moisture causing it to swell and become sticky. These characteristics make it a poor choice to use when grouting in the limited space around the casing. 

Although the casing is only 6 5/8 inches in diameter, the couplings located every 20 feet are a little more than 7 inches in diameter. This barely leaves an inch of space around the casing for the chips to fall through in perfect conditions. If the dirt, rocks, and clay swell from hydration or are loosened by the washing effect during the drilling process (which occurs in most cases), the size of the hole around the casing will be significantly reduced. This leaves only a small space for the chips to work their way past. 

Compounding this problem is the fact that a couple of areas have a large squared lip, making it difficult for the chips to find their way past. As the chips fall into the hole, they come in contact with dirt, rocks, and clay that have been hydrated through the drilling process. This contact with the borehole surface causes the dry bentonite to become hydrated, thus making it swell and sticky. As the bentonite "tumbles" into the hole, it bounces back and forth between the outer diameter of the borehole and casing. 

The tumbling effect causes the velocity of the work done to slow. If the diameter decreases and the bentonite swells and becomes sticky enough, it tends to become trapped before it reaches the bottom of the borehole. We believe this occurs in most cases, and if it does, the bentonite will be trapped well above the area it needs to be. The surface casing won't be able to seal, which will allow surface water and contamination to enter the potable water supply of the well. 

The moral of the story is that easier and cheaper are not always better. For this reason, we choose to use cement grout instead of bentonite.

Grouting is the process that seals the outside annular space of the surface casing. This prevents surface water contamination. For the grout to do its job correctly, it needs to find its way around the casing to the bottom of the borehole through an opening that, in most cases, is less than one inch in width.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources' regulations requires that at least the bottom 30 feet of annular space be filled with grout for most areas in Central Missouri. The best upgrade a customer can make in constructing a water well is to fill the entire annular space around the casing with grout. To fill the annular space, six bags of grout are needed for every 30 feet of the casing. In most cases, the grout is installed using the gravity method described in the DNR's Construction Rules for Wells and Water Systems.

Regardless of who you hire, we recommend that you request the contractor to provide you with a "certificate of insurance." These are available to you free of charge and certify that the contractor you are about to hire is properly insured. They should originate from your driller's insurance agent or directly from the insurance company to prevent a counterfeit certificate from being used. 

If your contractor cannot or is unwilling to provide the certificate, chances are they are not insured. If you hire an uninsured contractor, you will be held responsible should an accident occur on your property. You will be left holding the bag if your contractor damages your or someone else's property. We are always happy to provide you with a certificate of insurance if requested.

Tom maintains fiscal responsibility to his customers and staff by maintaining General Liability insurance to the limit of 2 million dollars and covering his employees with Workers' Compensation, Unemployment Benefits, and SSI. Many contractors will claim to have insurance coverage when, in reality, they have no coverage at all. When you hire Tom, ask for a certificate of insurance, and he will call his agent and have one sent promptly to you. Missouri law mandates that anyone in the construction industry who employs one or more employees carry Workman's Compensation insurance.

The location of the well ideally should be within 20 to 100 feet of the main point of use. For example, the well should be close to the house if the well is to be used for a residence. Locating the pressure tank inside the home will prevent the need for a well house or the unreliability of a high-maintenance buried pressure tank. If the well must be located farther than 100 feet from the point of use, this will increase the cost of the well. It would mean more digging costs and pipes and could cause the installation to require larger wires. Ideally, the well and the pressure tank should be as close to each other as possible to keep installation costs at a minimum.

Choose a spot that is not directly under large trees or near smaller trees. As the branch system on the tree grows, it could make it difficult to service the well in the future. The tree roots can eventually cause damage to the well casing. A good rule of thumb would be to keep the well at least 30 feet from the base of any tree.

Take care to stay away from existing overhead utility lines (telephone, water, electric, gas, etc.) Avoid any area where fill has been used, such as the site of an old basement or a buried trash/brush pile. 

Clear approximately 30 x 20 ft. of space or more to make room for the trucks.

Ideally, the trucks need to be parallel with the drill rig and to the left of the drill support rig. This will allow the drilling crew to load the drill steel and casing needed to reach the desired depth for your well.

Electricity is helpful for immediate pump and electrical component hook-up, but it is not completely necessary to drill the well. 

If you have electricity available at the construction site, it will allow for the connection and testing of the pump. We can still drill the well and set the components in place if electricity is unavailable. The electrical connection can be made when power is made available.

Call 1-800-DIG-RITE

Be aware of buried utilities in the path of the pipeline trenches and electrical lines that will connect your well to the home and the electrical source.

When a frost-free area is unavailable, the last resort would be to directly bury the pressure tank in the ground beside the well below frost level. The pressure switch can then be installed inside the well casing at a point below frost level. 

Our pressure switches are mounted on a 6-foot length of kink-proof rubber hose. This allows easy access to the pressure switch without having to pull the pump to make a simple repair. We want to point out that we would recommend burying a pressure tank only as a last resort.

All water system installations must have protection to prevent the equipment and plumbing from freezing. Basements or below-ground crawl spaces are the most effective places to install pressure tanks and plumbing. Pressure tanks can also be placed in existing above-ground structures if they are insulated and heated. All above-ground structures must have a heat source and proper insulation for extended periods of extremely low temperatures.

It may be necessary to construct a small building for some installations involving manufactured housing or when no outbuildings are present. We sell a manufactured 3' by 5' insulated well house that allows easy access to the well, pressure tank, and controls. Insulated housing 4' by 4' by 4' tall or larger with a 32" wide door or removable lid is suitable for pressure tanks and plumbing. Ensure the door opening is large enough to allow future access for servicing and repairs. We recommend that the inside walls be covered with some form of sheeting to prevent damage to the insulation from nesting bugs, bees, and rodents. Larger buildings will work, but remember: more space requires more heat.

If your property is the site of an old or abandoned well, you must plug the open pipelines immediately to prevent disaster. Contrary to popular belief, old wells do not make reliable backup water sources. Unlike old cars, they would not need replacement if they were adequate and reliable water sources. If an abandoned well is near your property, contact the owner and urge them to have it correctly plugged.

Our years of drilling experience in this region of Missouri enable us to make accurate estimates based on current material costs and factors related to your specific location, such as its elevation, the depths of neighboring wells, and known geological formations in your area. However, it's important to note that every well we drill is a unique project. 

Occasionally, there may be factors that increase the project's actual cost, such as the need to drill deeper than anticipated or because the formations encountered during drilling may be broken or layered in a way that might cave into the borehole. If this occurs, re-drilling may be necessary.

We try to inform you of all possible scenarios beforehand or as they occur. We are always happy to answer any questions and address concerns before, during, and after the drilling process or water system installation. We believe in being honest and upfront with you, and we value the importance of providing clear communication and accurate information to our customers.

When drilling your well, we use two devices: a 9 1/4 inch hole to set the 6 5/8 inch surface casing and a 6-inch hole drilled below the surface casing down into the water-bearing formations to finish the well. We start by drilling the 9 1/4 inch hole first. 

Although the DNR rules state that this hole's minimum size should be 8 5/8 inches, we increase the size to 9 1/4 inches to allow for more space around the casing. This hole is started on the surface and made through the dirt, loose rocks, clay, and shale found close to the surface and in most areas of Missouri.

Solid rock, i.e., limestone and chert/flint, are eventually encountered. Shale, clay pockets, and broken formations are also found in some areas. Missouri regulations require that the surface casing is set at least 30 feet into solid material. Once we hit the rock, we continue to drill until we are at least 30 feet into a solid formation. The larger bit and drill tools are removed from the hole, and the surface casing is installed. After setting the casing and installing the grout, the smaller 6-inch bit is placed inside the casing and lowered to the bottom of the casing, where drilling then resumes.

As the 6-inch hole is drilled, it eventually enters porous formations saturated with water. The deeper the hole is drilled into the saturation zone, the more water will flow from the well. We recommend that the well yield produce at least 2 to 3 times the anticipated pump flow. The extra water produced by the well will allow for lowering water levels and decreased production of water that naturally occurs in periods of extended dry weather and over time as the well gets older.