I have a 725 foot drilled well (normal in my area) with a problem.
From what I have read, it seems there is a concrete material used to
seal contaminates on the outside of the pipe from draining down into
the water. Two weeks after completion, I started to get oil and
natural gas in my water. Is it possible that this sealant has failed?
Can it be repaired? Any other ideas.

wrote:
I have a 725 foot drilled well (normal in my area) with a problem.
From what I have read, it seems there is a concrete material used to
seal contaminates on the outside of the pipe from draining down into
the water. Two weeks after completion, I started to get oil and
natural gas in my water. Is it possible that this sealant has failed?
Can it be repaired? Any other ideas.

Talk to the driller/well company -- this isn't a diy'er type of problem.

Sure, it can fail or there could be another path from one oil/gas
stratum to your water. Or if this is an area of exploration there could
be an undocumented abandoned or dry hole. A "veritable plethora" of
possibilities...

--

wrote:
I have a 725 foot drilled well (normal in my area) with a problem.
From what I have read, it seems there is a concrete material used to
seal contaminates on the outside of the pipe from draining down into
the water. Two weeks after completion, I started to get oil and
natural gas in my water. Is it possible that this sealant has failed?
Can it be repaired? Any other ideas.


One can encounter oil (petroleum) in many places where there are no commercial
oil wells (presumably not economical).
The petroleum may be below the level of the seal. The seal is usually only
for (near) surface contaminants. In my area (wells typically 200-300 feet),
the seal is only for the top 50 feet and pea gravel below that.
If the driller knew that he was drilling through oil bearing rock, he
could have put less pea gravel in and had the concrete seal go through the
oil bearing layer.

Are you sure that this is natural petroleum and not some
man made water contamination? How do you know that it is
natural gas (methane), and not something else (carbon dioxide? H2S?)?
How much is there?

Talk to the driller, you local regulators who worry about wells & water quality,
and maybe a geologist.

I don't know if it is possible to fix the well, but it may be possible
to treat the water.

Clark wrote:
wrote in news:1182876400.443729.230690
@m36g2000hse.googlegroups.com:

I have a 725 foot drilled well (normal in my area) with a problem.
From what I have read, it seems there is a concrete material used to
seal contaminates on the outside of the pipe from draining down into
the water. Two weeks after completion, I started to get oil and
natural gas in my water. Is it possible that this sealant has failed?
Can it be repaired? Any other ideas.

First question: What's the well's approximate location in the world?

You planning on droppin' by to fix it?

Second question: How far away is the nearest oil or gas well?

As someone else noted, doesn't have to be a nearby well although not a
bad hypothesis could also be dry holes or areas that aren't commercially
viable (or haven't been to date, anyway).

Third question: Why haven't you called the local government oil & gas
regulatory commission and the local government's environmental quality
department?

I'm assuming the time span since the original two weeks hasn't been very
long so I'd think the driller would be first on my list although the
State should have a registry of _known_ abandoned holes which could be
useful (here it's the State Geological Service). Of course, it's the
existing but unknown that are often the cause of the problem.

--

Sorry, I don't see seal failure causing natural gas contamination. You
may want to check this with an expert. You have a deep, expensive, and
non-potable source of water. You'll need to drill another well if you want a
source of drinking water. I don't think you can blame anyone, this sounds
like bad luck.

Dave M.