Progress Report -- Drilling a Well

Jack Miller, President, Northern Virginia Drilling Company, and Winfield Sealander, Chair of the Capitol Hill Day School Board of Trustees' Facilities Committee review the status of our drilling project. Northern Virginia Drilling was on site Wednesday and Thursday, July 30-31 to find an adequate source of water for a geothermal HVAC system in the proposed addition to the building. John Brown, Driller, and Kent Wilkes, Assistant Driller worked with Jack on the project.

More pictures and videos of the drilling can be found at the following website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chds/collections/72157603777742737/

Drilling a Test Water Well

On Wednesday, July 30 and Thursday, July 31 Northern Virginia Drilling, Inc., and Bowman Geothermal LC will drill a water well in the School's parking lot. This is a test to determine if we have adequate subterranean water to install an open loop geothermal heat exchanger in the proposed middle building for the School.

Porous Concrete Surface for the Parking Lot

We will drill several test holes in the parking lot in early August to determine if we can specify in the construction documents that the building contractor repave the parking lot with a porous concrete surface.

The District of Columbia's building code requires us to contain water that would otherwise run off a roof or a parking lot into the storm sewers. This goal is also important as we try to meet an environmental standard.

Where will rainwater from the parking lot drain? One idea that our Design Building Team is exploring is a porous concrete surface for the parking lot, but we have to determine if this solution is feasible by testing to see if the soil under the existing parking lot is sufficiently permeable.

Several holes will be drilled in the parking lot at various levels into the subsoil to determine the infiltration rate. If it is not fast enough the District will require the construction of an underground chamber filled with with sand and gravel along with an overflow drain to the storm sewer. We will realize cost savings if surface water will infiltrate the soil.

Steve Goley, P.E., LSA Associates, contributed to this post.

Geothermal Test Well

Capitol Hill Day School has contracted with Bowman Geothermal, LC, to drill a test well to the aquifer determine if there is an adequate source of water. If the "flow" is sufficient, the School could install a geothermal heating and cooling system in the proposed addition. The date for the drilling has not been set. We expect the drilling to occur over a two-day period.