Texas LAND Summer 2017

PROFILE
metal tanks along with polyethylene pipes designed to get water
from point A to point B.”
FROM THE OIL PATCH TO RANCH ROADS
Quick Line Service’s Ranch Water Division grew out of QL
Corp., an oilfield water service company that Bell and a group
of investors purchased in 1981. Six months after the purchase,
the bottom fell out of the oil market, and left the company
relatively idle.
“It was a tough time, but it pointed out the need to diversify,”
Bell, who had served in the U.S. Navy during Vietnam, as a land
appraiser and Vice President of Frost Bank’s Farm and Ranch
Division before becoming an entrepreneur, said. “I know how to
do what I know how to do—and that’s how to effectively move
and store water.”
His ranching background as well as the time he spent on
various ranches as a businessman, hunter and guest made the
opportunity clear: he and his team would “put water where it
isn’t” for landowners and land managers.
“From a business perspective, the ranch operation gave the
company an additional income stream when the oil field slows
down, which it always does,” Bell, who holds an ag business
degree from Texas Tech, said. “From a personal perspective,
the ranch operation is satisfying work that puts us in contact
with good people who are trying to make a difference through
good land management and conservation.”
PUTTING WATER WHERE IT ISN’T
While each ranch is different, the Quick Line process is the
same. It starts with a plan developed with the rancher.
“Some landowners have a complete plan in mind, while others
just know they need more accessible water on their land,” Bell
said. “As a company, we can provide as much or as little input
as the landowner wants and needs.”
Generally, the process moves from plan to installation where
the team either lays the line or buries it, depending on the
landowner’s preference. The next step is creating storage and
access by installing tanks, troughs or wildlife waterers.
“We do everything except dig the water wells,” Bell said,
noting that a plan can be completed in total or in phases,
depending on the landowner’s budget and timeline.
Through the years, Bell has tried every type of pipe on the
market. Experience has proven that polyethylene is far superior
to metal, PVC and the “black pipe that old-timers remember
not-so fondly from the 1950s.”
Polyethylene pipe comes in a variety of sizes. Most ranch
applications fall in the range of 1.25-inch to 4-inch diameter
pipe, although Bell and his team have used as large as 12-
inch. It is virtually indestructible. Unlike other products, it’s
not affected by cold and won’t burst when it freezes unless
temperatures drop to -40°F or below. It doesn’t get brittle in the
sun or rust. When the line is buried, the product that Bell installs
is unconditionally guaranteed for 50 years.
The pipe is installed in 2,000 foot lengths and joined with
heat fusion.
“Our product gives you maximum flexibility with a minimal
number of joints, which historically have been the weak
points in piping,” Bell said. “Because of the nature of the
materials and the heat fusion process, the polyethylene pipe is
theoretically as strong at the joints as it is along its length—as
long as it’s fused properly.”
The company also installs polyethylene-lined water tanks and
polyethylene pond liners.
“Our goals are to maximize water availability and minimize
water loss,” Bell said. “Polyethylene products help us achieve
those goals.”
A SET-UP USING A SIX-INCH POLY PIPE TO PUMP WATER FROM
60,000 FEET AWAY.
WHY TWA?
“What TWA has done in the realm of conservation
education is, in my opinion, more effective
and more important than just about any other
organization out there. TWA helps people,
whether they’re young or old, understand the
value of our natural resources and the role that
private land stewards play in taking care of
them. Conservation doesn’t happen by accident.
It happens when people care enough to put their
passion into action on the land.” —Kenneth Bell
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