Brandy Hale, Peak to Peak. Not many businesses in the Peak to Peak region can claim three generations of ownership, much less specializing in something as critical as providing water to households, thereby being critical to the settlement of the area. CR Smith drilling is one such business, and they are celebrating 60 years in operation this year.

The company was started by Mr. Calvin R. Smith in 1958 when he purchased a drill rig after serving in the Air Force as a mechanic. His skills were useful in repairing the used machine that was the cornerstone of his well-drilling operation in the Woodland Park, Colorado Springs, Decker and Canyon City areas that he lived near at the time. Eventually, increasing numbers of contracts were coming in from the Black Hawk area where he met his future wife. Abbie was divorced and split her time between Denver, where her mom lived, and her son Frank in California when she met Calvin as he was drilling the well at her mother’s place in Black Hawk. The two were married in 1965, and eventually Frank moved out to Colorado and attended Red Rocks Community College, where he studied diesel mechanics and hammer drilling.

Frank’s skills were good for fixing the old rig, but nothing lasts forever, and the old rig had to be replaced. Frank bought a new rig and eventually took over for Calvin, but not before being drill assistant on many of the older wells in the area.

Then Frank met his wife Anne, whose son Dave spent many years assisting Nathan, Frank’s long time helper on pumps, cisterns, pressure tanks and drilling. Nathan moved to Nebraska and Dave is now assisting Frank, being the specialist on pump tie-ins to homes and commercial buildings using his electrical knowledge from his time in the Navy. Frank continues to drill, a muddy and wet job, with the machine he purchased 40 years ago, while Dave installs the pumps, water lines and pressure tanks, a dirty and itchy job that sometimes requires going into crawl spaces and basements with the bugs, while Anne is the bookkeeper and scheduler of operations, a less dirty job.

When asked if they have re-drilled or serviced wells that Calvin had dug, Dave said he had been out to one just the day before. Calvin kept records of most of his work, some going back to 1957, so it’s not hard to look up if he was the original installer if Frank doesn’t recall being there with him on the job.

While the basic gist of the job may not have changed much—dig, install pump and water line—the regulations and safety measures have. The requirements of steel casings that channel water through more rock before emptying into the well have gone from being non-existent, to being 12 feet long, then 20 feet, and now 40 feet. In some cases where water contamination has been a problem, or seems likely to occur, the additional precaution of deep grout is required as well.

This cement-like substance globs onto the well walls and swells into cracks that have been letting contaminated surface water enter the well before minerals and other deep conditions can kill bacteria. Additionally, there is the conundrum of modern regulations on the distance between wells, and between wells and septic systems, that conflict with lot sizes that haven’t changed, especially in Gilpin county.

Long term outlooks on the local well drilling industry are good, according to Frank and Dave. The problem is the cities below drawing down the supply up here. Just like a drink dispenser with the spigot at the bottom of the container, the water amount above drops down when the water is poured out from below, and mild winters don’t help with the problem.

The family business says that the major problem they face today is a lack of skilled labor to help with the service work, i.e. repairs and replacements of pumps, electrical tie-ins, and pressure tanks. A lot of new people are in the mountains now, and when they lose water at home, they aren’t patient about getting the problem solved like the old timers who’ve seen a pump fail a time or two. Families with kids get priority on service calls, but sometimes diagnosing the problem can be long and tedious, causing service calls to stack up. The family has dealt with many midnight calls about something that just can’t be taken care of in the dark. And as a local business, they have had to work with people on billing issues that are understandable in an area with limited employment options.

Dave and Frank both say that it is time for a new rig, but the cost of one, and the insurance for it, are borderline astronomical. Dave is hoping for a new one to come with the business when it’s his time to take over, but that doesn’t mesh with the way things have gone in the past, according to Frank.