Water Well Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/451364
"I call it the Costco principle," Henrich says. "Buy in bulk and buy it by the truckload. Pipe won't go bad." Buying products by the truckload saves you money be- cause you're not buying from someone else's stock. When you buy from a warehouse, the products are marked up by a percentage because they had to transport the product, unload it, reload it, and deliver it. In the bidding process, if you use a cheaper product than what's being asked for, explain why the cheaper product works just as well. For example, when drilling bores 300 feet or more, engineers will often want to use studier pipe such as DR-9. But newer resins, such as PE4710, are more durable and have a better pressure rat- ing, allowing you to use smaller, thin- ner-walled pipe. "So if you know a product well and are able to articulate that, it can poten- tially save some cost per foot if you're matching the proper product to the proper application," Henrich says. Mistake #5: Not knowing when to walk away The best way to make a profit is to know when not to bid on a job. Hawk-Baldwin encountered a job that asked for a lump-sum bid. It claimed each hole would need 50 feet of pipe, but her company did the test bore for the project and knew it would take 125 feet of pipe per hole. "In that situation we refused to do the job," she says. "We told them we drilled the test bore, so we knew how much casing is going to be in there. Unless they bid so it can be cost per foot to ac- count for casing costs, we weren't going to do the job because whoever took the job would end up eating the 75 feet of casing." She added one final piece of advice for bidding on a job: Never make as- sumptions. "Early on we got hurt in a couple of jobs because we thought we had it all and we didn't," she says. "Get everything in writing and al- ways read the fine print. When you don't read everything, that's when you get caught with your pants down." • Solid & Hollowstem A ect Pus anced Dir v • Ad 9520-VTR le b pa er Ca Aug hnology ec sh T tions Job Site Loca e and R • Compact Siz a dr Hy . of • 48,000 lbs o k Contr e-Loc • Secur le b . Adjusta • 3,000 lb ow se P d Hor ease • Incr • 4,000 ft/lb 2-Speed A our or All Y ust fo ob ce or k F ulic Pull Bac anel l P h High Speed Winc er & Fuel Economy w e Head er Driv Aug RUGGED RUGGED POWERFUL POWERFUL DURABLE DURABLE Made wit l sa ofessiona pr ct our conta Or ase v tion, ple e informa mor for Made wi with Pride in the U.S 0-635 t: 208-226-2017 / 80 m a ales tea r s.com/powe mpler .ams-sa visit www th Pri ride in the U.S.A. 5-7330 obe rpr Find us on: .A. Find us on: c. n AMS, I et e n S o s i r r 105 H A s r a 73 Ye ce 1942 in S AMS, Inc. 105 Harrison Street o A 73 Years a Ye Since 1942 o 83211 h d s, I l l a n F a ic er m m s.co ler p m a s s m .a w w merican Falls, Idaho 83211 a l a a A ww .ams-sa plers.com m w. w w ww m s.co ler p m s s m s@a m ams@ams-sa plers.com o m a WWJ Jennifer Strawn was the associate editor of Water Well Journal from 2004 to 2007. She is currently in the internal communications department at Nationwide in Columbus, Ohio. She can be reached at strawnj2 @gmail.com. Check Out NGWA Cost Calculators Go to the NGWA Bookstore and see the NGWA Cost Calculators that tell you the true cost for doing a job. Calculators for geo- thermal, drilling, and pump installation are available free to NGWA members. Go to www.NGWA.org today! WWJ February 2015 21 Twitter @WaterWellJournl