Bed 02Services
Wells for every kind of Ozark property.
- 01Water wells for homesNew private wells for houses on acreage and rural lots, drilled into the limestone and finished to Arkansas standards.
- 02Irrigation wellsWells for watering pasture, gardens, nursery stock and lawns, kept a safe distance from drinking-water wells.
- 03Farm and livestock wellsWater for cattle, poultry houses and working farms, large and small, across Benton County and the region.
- 04Wells for businessesWater wells for shops, churches, camps and other properties outside city water lines.
- 05Replacement wells and plugging old wellsA new well when an old one has failed, and old or unused wells sealed so they can’t carry surface water down into the aquifer.
Bed 03Reading the ground
Every well here is drilled through the same three things.
Drive any highway cut around Bentonville and you can see it: the red clay, the grey limestone banded with chert, and the openings where water moves. That rock decides how deep, how long and how carefully a well has to be built.
Red cherty clay
The top few feet to tens of feet: rocky red residuum left as the limestone dissolved. The casing has to be sealed through it so storm water can’t follow the pipe down.
Boone limestone and chert
The Springfield Plateau aquifer. Hard grey limestone with beds of flint-hard chert that wear on bits and slow the drill. Water travels in its fractures and dissolved openings.
Karst, sinkholes and springs
Where water has dissolved the rock into caves, sinkholes and springs. It holds water, and it lets surface water in fast. Siting, sealing and testing matter here.
Bed 04How a new well happens
Sited right, sealed into rock, on record with the state.
Arkansas sets the rules for how a well is located and built, and only a licensed contractor may build one. Here’s what that looks like on your property.
(479) 795-2847- 01
Call and describe the property
Where it is, what the well will serve (house, livestock, irrigation) and where the septic system and power lines are or will be.
- 02
Pick the spot
The well goes where the rules allow and the ground makes sense: 100 feet from a septic tank in typical Ozark clay soils, 10 feet from buildings and power lines, and clear of where surface water collects.
- 03
Drill and case
The bit works down through red cherty clay and into the Boone limestone. Casing is set at least 10 feet down or a foot into solid rock and sealed so surface water can’t run down the outside of it.
- 04
Finish, disinfect, record
The casing stands at least 8 inches above ground, the well is disinfected before use, and a construction report with the well’s location goes to the state. You can ask for a copy.
Bed 05On record
Some things are older than any of us.
The rock was laid down long before the first well in Benton County. The rules came in 1969. Here is the record, using only dates we can show you.
About the company- About 350 million years agoMississippian Period
A shallow sea lays down the Boone Formation: limestone layered with chert. It becomes the Springfield Plateau aquifer most local wells draw from.
- Older stillCambrian to Devonian
Dolostones and sandstones of the deeper Ozark aquifer, below a confining layer, reached only by much deeper wells.
- 1969Act 641
Arkansas begins licensing water well construction. Only a licensed contractor may build a well.
- 2024State contractor list
Bob Wade Drilling Co. appears on the state’s 2024 list of licensed water well contractors, Benton County.
- 2025–2026Renewal year
Listed again, license C001315, category Drill Systems Only.
Bed 06Service area
Benton County and the hills around it.
From the Missouri line to the Oklahoma line and over to Beaver Lake. Each page covers the ground, the water and the usual jobs in that part of the county.
Full service areaBed 07Straight answers
Well water questions.
How deep is a typical water well in Northwest Arkansas?
There is no single number. Most home wells here draw from the Boone limestone of the Springfield Plateau aquifer, and the depth depends on where the bit meets water-bearing fractures and openings in that rock. Two wells a few hundred yards apart can finish at very different depths.
Who licenses water well drillers in Arkansas?
The Arkansas Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Division, through its Water Well Construction Committee (the program long known as the Arkansas Water Well Construction Commission). Anyone who contracts for or performs well construction or pump installation must hold, or work for someone who holds, an Arkansas Water Well Contractor License.
What is karst, and why does it matter for my well?
Karst is limestone country where water has dissolved the rock into fractures, caves, sinkholes and springs. Northwest Arkansas is classic karst. It holds a lot of water, but water from the surface can reach the aquifer fast, with little filtering on the way.
How do I get my well water tested in Arkansas?
Start with your local health unit. The Arkansas Department of Health’s Water Microbiology Laboratory tests private well samples for total coliform bacteria and E. coli; you pick up a collection kit at the local health unit, and the sample must reach the lab within 30 hours of collection.
I have no water. What should I check first?
Check the well pump’s breaker in the electrical panel. If it has tripped, reset it once. If it trips again, leave it off and call a licensed pump installer.