Blue Gold.

To drill a Borehole, you need a license (which is the case of most things in Portugal!), so we naturally turned to our friend & Lawyer (Fernando) to obtain the necessary documentation. The authorising agency ( Agencia Portuguesa do Ambiente; ‘APA’) initially refused our application & inexplicitly instructed us to move the proposed drilling location by 10m to the North or West??? 

We duly complied with the APA directive & provided new co-ordinates (Lat. & Long.) for the second new borehole location. We (Fernando) never managed to obtain any form of explanation as to why we had to move the drill location. 

So after paying the €132.00 admin fee for the drilling license, the next stage was to contract a drilling company. We instinctively turned to the company that installed the pump + tank to our first borehole (SONDALIS) & then connected the house to the water. 

SONDALIS eventually provided a quote, which transpired to be almost double the cost of our first borehole, drilled in 2018!! Having accepted the substantial increase in cost’s due to the Pandemic, we signed a contract at the beginning of December (2021) & paid the €2,260.00 deposit! We contacted SONDALIS several days later, requesting a ‘date’ for the drilling operation. SONDALIS replied: “let’s stop for vacation and return in January”, which is typical for Portugal. 

In fairness, the drilling of the new borehole did not have a time-critical element for Geoff & me, simply because our initial borehole supplied our current needs. However, as Geoff was quick to point out, the location of our second borehole was susceptible to flooding during the winter rains.

As forecast during the week of Christmas, we had 8-10 days of significant rainfall. Sadly, it hasn’t rained since!!

20th January 2022, SONDALIS finally arrived, with a ‘the beast’ of a drilling lorry, only to be informed by the ‘on-site manager’ that the drilling lorry could only get within 5m of the designated drilling spot & due to the soft ground!! 

After the drilling lorry unfolded itself like a ‘transformer’ into an enormous drilling platform, drilling began in earnest. After drilling 15m, water was gushing from the drill hole & the “expert drill operator” was beaming with a broad smile. The initial excitement was soon lost, as the water stopped flowing & the drill kept going down! Drilling finally reached 100m & no significant water! It was suggested by SONDALIS, & agreed by us, that we continue drilling to a maximum depth of 150m to continue the search for water. 

Three days since drilling began, 150m drilled & the water flow was 1000 ltr/hour, now to Geoff & I that was almost the same as are existing borehole but according to the “drill operator,” a borehole should provide anything between 60,000 & 90,000 ltr/hr to make it justified in costs. A phone conference with SONDALIS’s “manager” & it was suggested & agreed that they conduct a survey & drill another borehole!!

We have already witnessed Mr Sousa (Water Wzzard) at work with the dowsing stick, now came the turn of the “drill operator”. 

From his jacket pocket, he produced a small, rusted tape measure, which he folded into a triangle shape & began walking around our land with purpose. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Had it not been so funny & unbelievable, Geoff might have chucked them off-site! 

After 10mins the “drill operator” proclaimed he had found water, the only problem was it was in the centre of the new driveway! So he set off again with his rusted tape measure, this time to the rear of the house. Once again he proclaimed to have located water. When Geoff quizzed him on the possible amount of available water at the new location, the “drill operator” shrugged his shoulders & stated maybe: “1000 or 2000 ltr/hr”. 

I think it was at this point that Geoff finally gave up & informed the “drill operator” that we would make do with the second borehole providing us with 1000 ltr/hr. 

Total drilling cost: €11,200.00
Drilling boreholes is an expensive necessity and is at best a gamble because the process has no credible science or technology as to where to drill precisely.
Remember, the above cost doesn’t include a pump, pipe, electrical cable & plumbing to the large water tank.

The precise location of the new borehole is 5m from the licensed drilling position & 5m away from Mr Sousa’s original chosen location. We will have to wait & see what APA licensing authority has to say about that!!

Now, NOT to disappoint all our dog-loving friends, it was inevitable that Charlie would have to get in on the action. Not phased by the dust cloud or raging noise of the drilling process, Mr Charlie inspected the drilling up close!