Tabor City tribune. (Tabor City, N.C.) 1946-1991, 1962-08-08
Tabor City Drilling Fifth Deep Well
AS Water Demand Continues To Grow
BY RAY WICKER

ing water dates back TO pre-
historic times, and the quest
continues daily in all parts of
the world. The Twin-City area
Is no exception.
ABOUT one month ago, the
town of Loris was blessed with
one of the best wells in either
North or South Carolina. Pure
water is flowing from this well
at the exceptional rate of p
800 gallons per minute. The.
average flow for deep wells in
this area is between GOO and
1850 gallons per minute.
Not To be outdone, the town
of Tabor City is drilling a new
we'll to boost its water supply.
The town has four wells in OBJ
Grafton; the new will make the
fifth.
One man is responsible for
bringing this lle-sustaininp
liquid to the Twin Cities. His
name is c. c. Hildebrand
Hildebrand is from Wake
Forest. but he is no stranger to
this area. In fact, he is almost
hometown fella.
Back in 1926. he sank Tabor
City'S first deep we'll and this
well is still giving forth water.
Hildebrand'S 1925 visit to Tab
or City yielded more than a
we'll for the town, for he met
Miss Pauline harr-,sun. dau-
ghter of MIR. and Mrs. D. l..
HarrelSon. A year later they
were married. Since that time,
he has returned to Tabor City
To sink three other wells. All
four of the towns wells are
tine work of Hildebrand. Well
number four was drilled two
years ago, and it is still flow
ing at the rate of 1000 gallons
per minute.
A visit to the site of Tabor
City'S new well is fascinating
and educational experience.
Hildebrand's well drilling
rig stands behind the Columb-
us Manufacturing Company
plant near the Jones Street
Baptist Church.
A steel tower rises some go
feet above large truck, and a
steady pounding sound can bbe
heard. Behind the truck, di-
rectly beneath the steel tower
is small ten-inch hole. A
small teel cable runs from the
top of the tower into the hole.
II IS not an impressive sight at
first glance. but when Hide
bbrand raises the eight-foot
steel drilling bit, one begins to
understand how the mas of
machinery operates.
I'VE are down about $40
feet now, but we are going to
about $50 feet" he says. 1t is
hard to realize that the little
ten-inch hole from which the
drill bit has just emerged is
lao feet deep.
This will be a natural de-
veloped plain screen we'll"
Hildebrand says. He went on
To explain what this term
THE wall of the well will
be sealed off down to about
l4O feet with ten-inch steel
casing to keep undesirable sur
face water out of the well.
From $40 feet on down the
walls of the well will be lined
with stainless steel strainers,"
he explains.
Going over to his truck,
Hildebrand returned with a
= section of the costly strainer.
1t looked like a regular piece
of pipe except it had series of
small slots about quarter of
an inch apart running around
it.
"These V-shaped slots are
between .00lO and .003O inches
wide. When the drilling is COM
pleted, we will pump water
through this screen strainer
until all the tiny grains of sand
surrounding the we'll have been
run through the strainers and
out of the well. What remains
will be wall of course gravel
and sand around the well. This |
will be too course to pass
through the strainer. AS you
can see the purpose of all this
IS to keep fine sand out of the |
water supply" he said.
The new well will be in OPP
Grafton about the first week in
September: a well Of this size |
and depth takes about two |
months to complete. When
completed the new well is ex-
peeted to deliver between 600 |
and 1000 gallons Of pure
ground water per minute.
Tabor City has some Of the
best water In North Carolina"