Services Offered at Richardson Well Drilling

6" drilled wells
2" driven point wells
complete well and pump service
well inspections and water samples
winterization of well and water lines
thawing of well and water lines
opening & closing of cabins

The History of Richardson Well Drilling

Richardson Well Drilling was started in 1973 by Ed Richardson. Ed had joined the plumbing profession in 1965, working for Ahlborn Plumbing as an apprentice where they did a lot of work on 2" wells. After earning his journeyman's status, he went to work for Howard Brothers Plumbing and eventually earned his master plumber's license. Starting his own business, Ed purchased his first well driving equipment from Joe Gross in late 1973.

At the time there were very few well drillers in the area who drove wells. For the next 5 years, Ed installed only 2" driven wells and established his business in the area. He bought the first of his well drilling equipment in 1978, which was a cable tool rig. Drilling a well was a time consuming project, and therefore the cost greatly exceeded that of a driven well. Improvements in drilling equipment led to the purchase of a rotary drill rig with a casing hammer. The casing hammer addition allowed a driller to actually do two phases of the drilling at the same time, thus dropping the drilling time from 3-4 days to 4-5 hours per well. Once drilling a well became economically feasible for homeowners and with the growth in the Northwoods, Richardson Well Drilling purchased a second rotary drill rig.

Today the company still uses these two rotary drill rigs. Drilling equipment can be an expensive undertaking, but maintaining the drill rigs has always been a top priority of the company. Dependable service for customers requires dependable equipment. Each winter the rigs are thoroughly checked and updated so that breakdowns during the peak summer season are minor.

Pat & Ann Ertl purchased Richardson Well Drilling from Ed Richardson in the spring of 1998. Originally from Medford, Wisconsin, Pat got his on-the-job training in the drilling business with Lang Exploratory Drilling from 1982 to 1992. Most of his time with Lang was spent in the southwest part of the United States where the company focused on commercial, industrial, and municipal multi-million dollar projects. Some of these jobs included mineral exploration wells for mining, water monitoring wells, municipal supply wells, etc. The wells were as deep as 3500 feet and 32" in diameter and could take weeks at a time to complete. When Pat left Lang in 1992 he was a project manager responsible for several projects that sometimes were hours apart at a time.

Wanting to start a family and lead a more normal life, Pat and his wife lived near Nashville, Tennessee, for several years where he operated his own bulldozing/excavating business. They decided to return to their home state of Wisconsin after inquiring into the purchase of Richardson Well Drilling.

Little changes have been made in the day-to-day operations of Richardson Well Drilling. Most of the employees are still on staff and are some of the most experienced and qualified well installers in the area. Our drilliers have been with Richardson Well Drilling almost from the beginning of the company, and their years of experience is a valuable asset of the business.