We are interested in helping our planet by pursuing geothermal drilling for both energy to the grid and heating our homes and buildings.  We also drill to supply water for homes and commercial purposes, and we install and repair pumps.  

 

Brent Barker entered the drilling industry almost 20 years ago providing water for home owners with one cable tool drill rig. Since then, he has provided site development, drilling, and pump services for domestic and commercial projects, (both water and geothermal), drilling with numerous types of drilling rigs and equipment, (such as air & mud rotary, sonic, and top and table drives). Currently, he provides drilling services for water wells and geothermal heating systems, pump installation and repair, and 24-hour emergency water/pump repair. It is Barker Drilling’s goal to continue serving customers constructing quality wells efficiently. We have experience to drill challenging formations through years of drilling with diverse rigs and tooling, and are always striving to improve our services. Check out our "Water and Geothermal Services" tabs to see what we can do to help support your upcoming project.

 

 

 

 

                                                            Brent is the principal in charge of planning and managing all phases of

                                                            projects. His background includes owning and running drilling businesses,

                                                            rig management, consulting, and designing and fabricating tooling and

                                                            equipment to satisfy his drive to continually improve tooling and processes for

                                                            ergonomics, efficiency, and safety. He is extremely conscience about our

                                                            ground water and concerns of climate change, and hopes to make a difference.

                                                            He has 40 years of mechanic experience and many certifications (see below).

 

 

WA Water Well Driller, Geothermal Driller/Vertical Loop Installer, Well Control – Supervisory Level, Drilling Workover & Completion, A&P Mechanic (Airframe & Power Plant), Welder, Pump, plumber & combined electrician, Construction & Electrical Contractor.

 

Prior to drilling, Brent worked at a commercial airplane company starting out welding in a wind tunnel model shop and soon had opportunities to learn and expand his welding, mechanical, electrical and hydraulic skills working many of his years in aircraft research and development, and later working as an aircraft mechanic and inspector.
 

He was inspired to purchase his first drill rig in the 1990’s, a cable tool (some refer to as a pounder rig) and he drilled his first water well at property located on the Olympic Peninsula. His initial thought about drilling was that it couldn’t be too hard to put a hole in the ground, but he found early on that all drill rigs and drilling processes have plusses and minuses depending on the formations being drilled. Just one example is that a rig with higher pullback better assists with screen installation and pulling long lengths of casing or stuck casing. Brent had not even finished his first well and realized there are many challenges to drilling. But he enjoys challenges and excels at problem solving, and has designed new tools, and changed the rigs and drilling processes to resolve problems and improve efficiencies. He drilled with his cable tool, which works great for unconsolidated formations, but it doesn’t work well for basalts, granite, large boulders and cobbles. So he bought two air rotary rigs which allowed using the option of down-the-hole hammers for hard formations, and underreamers for cobbles/boulders.

 

His drilling experience includes drilling with a cable tool, mud rotary, top and table drives, tricone and multicone hole openers, air rotary top drive, down-the-hole hammers, casing drivers, both roller cone and hammer style underreamers, sonic rigs, internal casing cutters, and many other drilling tools. Brent is willing to drill more difficult drilling formations because of his interest and ability to complete challenging projects and his diverse set of drilling tools, including many that he has designed and fabricated.

 

Why is experience and diversity important? WA state has a mixed batch of geologic conditions. WA geology has been described as “vast, complex, & confusing.” Beneath WA, subduction zones, cause complex mountain building and volcanoes (which in return through eruptions & erosion) cause mud and debris flows. South eastern WA has had flood basalt flows, (some of which have sedimentary innerbeds between flows). Glaciers have pushed materials around and receded leaving boulders, cobbles and other materials randomly scattered. Glaciers also cause dams, flooding, and erosion changing landscapes. Glaciers and faults have changed the course of rivers and streams which also scatter sediments referred to as alluvial fill. What all this means to a driller is that there are drilling complications to be dealt with; for example: boulders/cobbles bend casing, unconsolidated material between bedrock stratas cause loss circulation or collapsing bore holes, and artesians flowing sand need to be controlled and screened.

 

Barker Drilling’s goal is to continue serving our customers constructing quality wells and installing and repairing pumps efficiently. We have experience to drill challenging formations through years of drilling with diverse rigs and tooling, and always striving to improve our services. Please visit our “Water Services” & “Geothermal Services” tabs to see what we can do to help support your upcoming project.