Why is it important for a geologist to supervise borehole drilling?

Some clients don’t want to hire geologists to supervise drilling of their boreholes. This may result into financial loss when the boreholes are not well drilled. Such situations may be avoided by having a geologist to supervise borehole drilling.

Advantages of supervising borehole drilling by a geologist or hydrogeologist include the following:

1). Some clients don’t have any background training in geology or geoscience, so it is good to have an expert on site to ensure that the driller is doing the right thing as recommended in a borehole survey report and/or agreed with the client.

2). A geologist on site will ensure that a borehole is drilled to a correct depth and that correct amounts of materials like casings and screens are used. If there is no supervisor on site, an unscrupulous driller may allege that he drilled to a certain agreed depth, which may not be true – resulting into financial loss by the client. Furthermore, it would be difficult for a client who is not familiar with drilling to know the actual amount of materials used such as casings and screens. This may result into loss of money by the client.

3). The supervising geologist on site can assist the client and driller to make crucial decisions such as termination of the borehole or extension of the drilling depth, depending on the intercepted geology and borehole yields.

4). A geologist would estimate borehole yield and give advice on appropriate borehole development techniques and borehole construction design. Wrong borehole drilling techniques and construction designs may result into poor borehole yields and water quality.

In view of the above and others not discussed here, it is advisable that one hires a geologist or hydrogeologist to ensure that all drilling works are carried out appropriately. This would ensure that boreholes are drilled properly as agreed with the driller and recommended by the surveyor.