03/09/2025
Hello everyone!!
We are excited for the new survey season to get started. I thought I would post my standard siesmic briefing that answers most questions we get and shows a cost for our services. If anyone has any question please contact us and we will answer your questions.
Seismic Briefing
Thank you for contacting Ghost River Aquafind Inc. Here is a little more information for you and cost structure we use. Please feel free to ask for more information if we have missed anything you require.
How it works.
Unlike some seismic techniques used in oil and gas exploration this procedure is not damaging to soil structure and nearby wells. By driving steel electrodes 36” into the ground and using a large rubber hammer or several grams of black powder we can create a small seismic event into the ground that disturbs the ions in the water. This action gives off a very tiny electrical signal that we pickup through the el
ectrodes imaging the water under the ground. Because water varies widely in how much mineral it may contain it will give different electrical signals. If there is an existing well we can calibrate the equipment more accurately for the area of survey due to the already verified depth and ground structure. This isn’t always possible of course, it just makes things a little more precise with final depth or potential yield. Ultimately each sounding that images the largest quantity of water is the strongest location to drill!
2 different approaches of survey to consider.
1. If the area is known to have water. Then we are confirming that we don’t get a dry hole and find the area with the highest yield. No point in missing twice the yield by 100 feet. This would be our standard survey of 8 soundings and charge $2500 plus GST.
2. If the area is known to have very limited water. This is a situation where a larger survey, requiring more soundings, may be requested depending on the size of area available. This can be a multi day project. The cost for this is the standard survey ($2500 )then we only charge $200.00 per extra sounding needed.
The success of the survey varies according to how much water there is to be found! Keep in mind we can’t magically find large aquifers if they are not there. We simply survey and give you a report on what is already there.
The success of the survey also depends on the quality of data collected at each sounding. Ideal conditions require a complete bonding of soil to the electrodes placed into the ground. Native undisturbed soil with no rocks that has some moisture is preferred to collect the best data. The more rock, gopher and mole holes or electrical interference etc. the poorer the data collected.
Requirements of survey site before we come.
1. No overhead or underground power lines within 50 feet of each sounding. We’ll help work around this for you.
2. As we will drive steel electrodes 36” into the ground we will need utilities marked before we come. It’s a free service, just call “Click Before You Dig”. 1-800-242-3447.
3. The property owner must be present to start the survey.
4. As mentioned above the ground can’t have more than 30% large rock and be virgin undisturbed soil with no back fill.
Once we have completed the survey we will need to take the data collected back to the office in order to quantify the results and determine the depth and approximate yield of the aquifer. We usually require at least 7 days to complete the results. If time is critical we can strive to lessen this time frame for you.
Our standard billing practice requires services to be paid after the survey but before we will release the survey report.
For more information please visit our website at Ghostriveraquafind.com. If you want to actually see short videos of us doing soundings with updated projects or new info visit our page at Ghost River Aquafind.
We are pretty passionate about finding water so if you have any questions don’t hesitate to email us back or call (403) 660-6127
How to find well water using seismic survey technology instead of witching or dowsing to locate a optimal wellsite.
