#5 Drilling the Well

The well drilling crew made it to Timber Oaks lot on April 8, 2026, after an earlier attempt was delayed by wet ground conditions. Two days of sun finally firmed up the site enough for the drill rig and support truck to make their way in. Eric, the well operator, and his assistant, Anthony, leveled the rig and began drilling straight down through the soil layers.

Progress was steady in 25‑foot sections until they reached schist at roughly 200 feet—a dense metamorphic rock common in southern Lancaster County and not typically generous with groundwater. They pulled the drill rods, fitted a larger bit, and installed a 6‑inch PVC casing before continuing deeper.

To check the initial yield, Eric paused at 200 feet and waited for the hole to recharge. The early reading was about half a gallon per minute. Drilling continued another 100 feet to create a reservoir and to see whether the deeper rock would offer more flow. After another recharge test, water rose halfway up the drill rod—an indication of roughly three gallons per minute, a solid rate for replenishing the well.

The team then installed 280 feet of slotted PVC liner, designed to let water in while keeping soil and gravel out, and capped the well for the next phase of construction. The pump will eventually sit about 25 feet above the bottom—high enough to avoid sediment, low enough to draw consistently from the reservoir.

The static water level will be measured later, once the well has settled. Seasonal patterns and rainfall influence are still unknown, but the well now stands ready to support the Timber Oaks home as the project moves forward.