Columnist goes to drought-parched Monterrey, Mexico, to train drillers in fluids, air drilling and foam drilling.

From the right pH to precipitating out hardness, soda ash is hard to beat for pretreating make-up water.

Early polymer slurries struggled when drilling unconsolidated soils. Fluid-loss additives changed the game.

Changes to usability, suspension, dosage often driven by requests from HDD, other contractors in the field.

Synthetics allow more compact, less muddy jobsites, as well as easier disposal.