Where to buy threaded/flush pvc for well casing?

[foolhardy]

I'm having a ~300' deep well drilled in the next 4 months and I was beginning to try to find the well casing. It looks like "threaded" or "flush" pvc isn't something sold at the big home stores ... or that I can find, anyway. Where do you order this stuff? I was thinking 4" threaded pvc with a 3" deep submersible pump.

Thanks a lot for your help.

 

[LLigetfa]

Would not the driller supply the casing? I would think the risk of supplying your own material would be too great.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Craigpump]

Is pvc allowed by code in Tn?

And yes, every drilling contractor I know always supplies the casing.

 

[Boycedrilling]

You will only find flush threaded PVC at wholesalers that cater to the drilling contractor. This is NOT what you want anyways. This product is much more expensive than regular PVC pipe. Each piece has to be chucked in a lathe and the male and female threads are machined in each end.

It used to be very common when using PVC pipe for with casing or liner to use regular bell end glue joint pipe. We would additionally add sheet metal screws to each joint to help hold it together as we glued it together and lowered it into the hole. There been more than once that I've been lowering a PVC liner into the well and heard a "whoooosh" as a glue joint pulled apart from the weight of the pipe. Usually about 200 ft down the hole.

Nowadays we normally use Certalock PVC pipe. It is bell and socket, but you don't glue it. It has an o-ring for sealing. Then both the male and female ends have a groove machined in them. There is a hole on the outside of the bell end that you inset a "spline" of PVC to lock the joint together. You will also only find this pipe at wholesale distributors for drilling contractors.

You need to check your states well drilling regulations whether PVC is permissible for casing and under what situations. If it is allowed the regulations will also state the minimum SDR ratio or pressure rating of the pipe. I really prefer 4 1/2" ID PVC instead of 4" PVC, which has an OD of 4 1/2". They Make this casing clear up to a 17.3" OD. It has a wall thickness of over an inch. It's being used instead of 16" steel in California. Not because it's cheaper, it's not. It's being used because it doesn't rust.

 

[Boycedrilling]

As craigpump mentioned, No drilling contractor is going to have you provide the casing for him to use.

 

[Boycedrilling]

The only time Flush joint threaded casing is normally used is in the construction of environmental or monitoring wells. This is to eliminate the use of PVC solvents and glue.

 

[Texas Wellman]

We use regular bell end glued joints for our casing. The only time we have had a failure is with bad glue.

 

[Boycedrilling]

We use regular bell end glued joints for our casing. The only time we have had a failure is with bad glue.

Do you mud drill? Our state regulations don't allow drilling operations inside of PVC casing. Usually we set steel casing and then use PVC pipe as a liner after the hole is completed. If it's 400 ft to swl, that a lot of PVC hanging in the hole. The weight of the PVC would be much less in a fluid filled hole.

 

[Craigpump]

We used to use belled end 4" when we had unstable sections that needed to be controled. Like Boyce said, we would glue and screw it together and never had any troubles with it pulling apart. The few times we did have problems is when the driller would drop it to set it on bottom, then it would telescope big time!

We did a job years ago where we sleeved the well that had a low water level, as soon as the torch pierced the casing to install the pitless the solvents ignited like a bomb going off.

Now we use Certa Lock exclusively, no potential contamination issues, no explosions and it goes in soooo much faster.

 

[Texas Wellman]

Do you mud drill? Our state regulations don't allow drilling operations inside of PVC casing. Usually we set steel casing and then use PVC pipe as a liner after the hole is completed. If it's 400 ft to swl, that a lot of PVC hanging in the hole. The weight of the PVC would be much less in a fluid filled hole.

Yes, we mud drill. Usually we do not drill inside the casing but it depends on how the well is being completed. We are fully screened and use PVC casing exclusively. The only time I have seen the certain lock is on large wells greater than 6".