When we drill a well, we file a completion report. When the well company before us drilled your well, they filed one too. That document is called a driller's log, and most rural property owners in Texas don't know it exists, don't know where to find it, and don't know how much information it holds about their water system.
On your well's driller's log, J4 Water Works starts with the same rule: diagnose first, then quote the work. See our water well drilling for the well placement, casing, depth, and drilling work behind this guide.
That's a gap worth closing. Whether you're troubleshooting a well problem, evaluating land before you close, or planning work on an existing system, the driller's log is often the most useful piece of documentation on the property.
What a Driller's Log Contains
A well completion report documents what the driller found from the time they broke ground to the time they finished the job. A complete report typically includes
- Well location: GPS coordinates or a legal land description, plus county
- Owner information: the name and address on record at the time of drilling
- Total depth: how far down the well goes
Casing type and diameter: whether it's PVC or steel, the size, and how deep the casing was set
Static water level: how high water naturally sits in the well before any pumping starts
Pump test data: flow rate in GPM and how much the water level dropped under pumping load
Geological notes: what formations the driller passed through, such as clay, sand, gravel, or rock
Grouting and surface seal notes: what was done to protect the well bore from surface contamination
That's a significant amount of information. It's the original design record for the well. It tells you the casing type, the depth to water at the time of installation, and how the well performed when it was new.
Why It Matters When Something Goes Wrong
If your well is behaving differently than it used to, the driller's log gives you a baseline to compare against. The original static water level tells you where the water table sat when the well was drilled. If we run a test today and the static level is significantly lower, that tells us the aquifer has dropped in your area. That changes how we approach a low-pressure or low-yield diagnosis.
The original pump test GPM tells us what the well could produce when it was new. If the well is producing noticeably less today, that's a diagnostic signal. Maybe the pump is wearing down. Maybe the screen at the bottom is partially clogged. Maybe the aquifer itself has shifted. Knowing the original numbers gives us a starting point instead of guessing at what normal looks like for that specific well. For more on pressure and pump diagnostics, see how to diagnose a pressure tank vs. pump problem Well Pressure Tank vs Pump: Which One Is Causing Your Problem?.
The casing details tell us what material is in the ground and where the casing ends. PVC and steel behave differently over time. Steel can corrode depending on the water chemistry and soil conditions. PVC can develop joint issues under certain conditions. Knowing what's down there helps us inspect the right things. For a breakdown of how the two materials compare over time, see our comparison of PVC vs. steel well casing PVC vs Steel Well Casing: Which Holds Up Longer?.
How to Find the Driller's Log for Your Well
Texas requires licensed well drillers to file a completion report for every water well drilled in the state. These reports go to the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), which maintains a public database called the Groundwater Database.
You can search the TWDB Groundwater Database online by county, owner name, or geographic location. The database is free and accessible to the public. If your well was drilled by a licensed driller, the record should be there.
A few things to know when you search:
Older wells may have incomplete records. The filing requirement has been in place for a long time, but older records were sometimes paper-only and may not have been digitized into the online database.
The name and address in the database reflect the owner at the time of drilling, which may not match the current property owner.
If you can't find your well by name, try searching by county and approximate coordinates or legal land description.
If you're having trouble locating the record, call us. We can often pull records from neighboring wells to understand the local geology, which gives us useful information even when the specific record for your property is missing or incomplete.
Why It Matters When Buying Property
If you're looking at land with an existing well, the driller's log is one of the first things worth tracking down before you close. It tells you the well's age through the drilling date, what it was designed to produce, and what it was built with.
Compare the original depth and casing size against how you plan to use the property. A well drilled for a small weekend cabin may not be adequate for a full-time family home plus livestock water plus irrigation demand. The log helps you understand what you're buying before the deal is signed. That's a much better place to find problems than after you've closed.
We pull driller's logs during pre-purchase well inspections as part of the on-site visit. Done right beats done fast, and that means starting with the actual records before we start guessing at what's underground. For a complete checklist of what to verify before closing on rural land with a well, see what to check when buying land with an existing well Buying Rural Land With an Existing Well: What to Check.
What to Do If There's No Record on File
Some older wells have no filed report. This is most common with wells drilled many decades ago before stricter record-keeping requirements were in place, or with wells installed by informal operators who didn't file the required paperwork.
No record doesn't mean the well is bad. It means we do more diagnostic work upfront. We run a pump test to establish current yield. We check the static water level. We inspect the wellhead and any accessible casing above ground. We also pull records from nearby wells in the TWDB database to understand the local geology and make reasonable predictions about what's likely in the ground at your location.
More diagnostic work upfront means more confident recommendations. We don't skip that step because the original record is missing. We show up, we explain what we found, and we get it done on what we actually know. For a full picture of what goes into a thorough well evaluation, see our complete guide to water wells in rural Texas Water Well Drilling in Rural Texas: The Complete Guide.
Common Questions About Well Driller's Logs in Texas
What is a well driller's log?
It's the completion report filed by the well driller when your well was drilled. It documents the well's depth, casing type and size, static water level, pump test results, and the geological formations encountered during drilling. In Texas, licensed drillers are required to file this report with the Texas Water Development Board after completing a well.
How do I find the driller's log for my property?
The Texas Water Development Board maintains a public Groundwater Database that includes well completion reports statewide. You can search by county, owner name, or location. The database is free and open to the public. If you're having trouble locating a specific record, contact us and we can help pull nearby well records to understand the local geology.
Does Texas require drillers to file a completion report?
Yes. Texas requires licensed water well drillers to submit a completion report to the Texas Water Development Board for every water well drilled in the state. The report must be filed within a set period after the well is completed. Older wells drilled before modern record-keeping requirements were fully in place may not have records on file.
What if my well doesn't have a record in the TWDB database?
It's more common with older wells. Without a record, we rely on a current pump test and physical inspection to establish what the well is producing today. We also pull records from nearby wells in the TWDB database to understand the local geology. No record means more diagnostic work upfront, not a reason to assume the worst about the well.
Can a driller's log tell me if my well needs to be replaced?
On its own, no. The log tells you the original specs and conditions at the time of drilling. To know what the well is doing today, you need a current pump test and inspection. The log gives us the baseline. A current test shows how the well compares to that baseline. Together, those two pieces give a much more accurate picture than either one alone.
If you want to track down your well's driller's log, or if you're evaluating a property with an existing well and want a professional inspection, call us. We start with the records and work from there. Request service at /contact/ request service, or call 979-320-4940 (tel:9793204940).