Hanford's city water is all groundwater, pumped from the city's own deep wells. Armona and Home Garden run small district systems, while rural homes out among the farms draw from private wells. Hanford sits in the Tulare Lake Subbasin, the first basin in California placed on state probation. State records hold 79 water-shortage reports from Hanford households, mostly from the 2014 to 2015 and 2021 to 2022 droughts.
Big River Drilling is a licensed C-57 well drilling contractor, and we come over to Hanford from our Riverdale yard. Water well drilling comes first: new and replacement wells drilled by mud rotary, then developed and pump-tested. Our pump crew handles well pump repair, pump installation, pressure tanks and the water line to the house. Call or text (559) 867-3806 for a free estimate; we take well and pump calls 24 hours a day.
Tell us about the well or the water problem. We come out, look at the site and give you a free estimate.
The city system serves about 62,000 people and uses no surface water. Its 11 wells run 600 to 1,700 feet deep, and the city picks each depth for water quality. Extra Kings River water and storm runoff go into 125 acres of city basins to soak back into the ground.
Armona's district serves about 4,100 people and Home Garden's about 1,750, both from their own wells. The subbasin's groundwater agencies estimate around 2,000 rural household wells outside systems like these. Hanford's groundwater agency also notes private wells inside the city limits.
Grangeville, the oldest existing community in Kings County, sits about 3.5 miles west-northwest of town. Hardwick, about 6.5 miles northwest, shares Hanford's 93230 ZIP and sits a mile or so south of the Kings River. Laton, about eight miles north in Fresno County, is in the Kings Subbasin, which is not on probation. Groundwater rules follow the subbasin and agency your parcel sits in.
The State Water Board put the subbasin on probation on April 16, 2024, after the local groundwater plan fell short. The Board flagged the plan's handling of falling water levels, sinking land and water quality. Under probation, most pumpers must report what they pump and pay state fees.
A household well pumping two acre-feet a year or less, for home use only, is excluded from reporting and fees. An acre-foot covers one acre of land a foot deep. Pumpers using 20 acre-feet a year or less, with none sent out of the subbasin, can also claim an exclusion. A court order in August 2026 paused enforcement in two other agencies' areas, but the Hanford area is still covered.
Locally, the Mid-Kings River GSA, run by the City of Hanford and Kings County, manages the groundwater around town. It requires every well in its area, Hanford included, to be registered with the agency. In February 2026 its board approved three new household wells and one city hookup for four dry wells.
In state well records, new household wells with Hanford addresses finished near 205 feet from 1990 to 2009. They reached about 300 feet in the 2010s, and since 2020 the typical depth is 400 feet. Most new wells now finish between 300 and 500 feet, and 57 were completed in 2022 alone. Kings County households that reported a dry well gave a typical depth near 136 feet.
State reviews describe a shallow zone to about 100 feet, then a middle zone from 100 to 700 feet. Many household wells draw from those upper zones, above the Corcoran Clay. USGS mapping puts the top of that clay roughly 400 to 450 feet below Hanford. From 2019 to 2022 the subbasin pumped about 514,000 acre-feet a year, against a sustainable yield near 299,000.
Wet years help: most monitoring wells read higher in fall 2024 than a year before, per the city's water plan. Still, satellite data showed parts of the subbasin sinking up to 6 feet from 2015 to 2023. The state's review names pumping from the deep zone, below the Corcoran Clay, as the likely main cause. USGS lists collapsed well casings among the damage sinking ground has caused in the valley.
Milk is Kings County's top farm product, then pistachios, cattle, processing tomatoes and cotton, per the 2024 crop report. Farms accounted for about 94 percent of the subbasin's groundwater pumping in the 2022 water year. Household wells use a small share, but the local agency lists them as vulnerable because they are shallower.
When the well quits or the pressure comes and goes, we check power, switch, control box, pump and water level. A worn-out pump calls for well pump installation, sized to your well's depth and your household's use. If the pump clicks on and off, we look at the pressure tank and its switch. A new well needs water line trenching to the house, and our crew digs and lays that too.
Hanford is the closest county seat to our Riverdale yard, about 21 road miles via Highway 41 and Highway 198. Our free estimate spells out the depth range, casing, seal, pump and tank, from well records near your parcel. Day or night, weekends included, call or text (559) 867-3806.
Communities and areas we serve around Hanford: Armona, Home Garden, Grangeville, Hardwick, Laton, Lemoore, Stratford, Goshen, Kingsburg.
Hanford ZIP codes served: 93230, 93232.
Free estimates throughout Kings County and the surrounding area.
(559) 867-3806
New domestic water wells drilled by mud rotary, cased and sealed to the county's standards, developed and pump tested, then finished with the pump, the pressure tank and the lines to the house. Replacement wells when an old well goes dry or silts up.
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No water, low pressure or a pump that never shuts off? We trace the fault from the breaker down to the pump and repair what failed.
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We size and set submersible well pumps for new wells and replace worn pumps in existing wells. The drop pipe, wire, controls and the electrical to the pump come with the job.
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We install and replace bladder and galvanized well pressure tanks, plus the switches, gauges and check valves. When the pump clicks on and off, we find out why.
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Trenching from the well to the house, with the water line and the pump's power conduit in one trench. New lines for new wells, and repairs when an old line breaks or leaks.
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The well quit and the taps are dry. We take well and pump calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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Irrigation and stock wells for farms, orchards, dairies and ranches around Riverdale. We drill by mud rotary, test pump the well and handle the permit paperwork.
Learn MoreReal reviews from real well and pump jobs, 9 reviews on Google.
Helped out my parents asap when the others wanted us to wait 2 weeks. He came out same day!!!! and changed the valve in only 10 minutes “thank you sir!! “ (water well drilling)
Open 24 hours. The owner is always available and always answers the phone or calls back. He’s very attentive, and when we have problems with the well, he will come out and check it immediately. He takes full responsibility for his work, which is excellent. we just call and he’ll walk us through the situation and it’s usually something simple. He also was able to get us a well at reduced rate through a program that he works with
Great fokes to do business with
A few of the questions we hear most around Hanford. If yours is not here, call and ask.
Tell us about the property or what your well is doing, and we will set up a free estimate. For a well or pump problem, call or text (559) 867-3806, day or night.
Tell us about the well or the water problem. We come out, look at the site and give you a free estimate.
