At Home In The Woods

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#4,331  
Well Challenges/Question

Watering the garden has been a challenge. Our well has kept up with our normal household needs without any problems, even during this extremely dry period we are having. However, we have found that with 3 water sprinklers running simultaneously, we can only water the garden for about 20 minutes. If we leave the garden water running much longer, water will start trickling from the springlers instead of spraying. Inside the house, the water faucets will either not work or just pour out a minimal flow rate. When we turn off the water to the garden, the water faucets in the house will quickly and often immediately start working like normal.

We are now watering the garden using 3 sprinklers twice a day for 15 or 20 minutes each time. We use a kitchen timer to remind us to turn off the garden water.

This situation caught me by surprise because the well digger told us when he dug the well that we had a very good flow rate. I do not remember the flow rate number he told us. I had thought we could water the garden as much as we wanted but that doesn't appear to be the case.

I am curious what experiences you guys have had regarding using a well to water your garden, grass, animals, etc.

Thanks in advance,
Obed
My wife has been watering the lawn to try to get the new grass to take. She has been watering with only one sprinkler going at a time. She has found that she can water the lawn all day long as long as she only uses one sprinkler. She just moves the sprinkler around throughout the day to get coverage over the entire lawn.
 
   / At Home In The Woods #4,332  
This situation caught me by surprise because the well digger told us when he dug the well that we had a very good flow rate. I do not remember the flow rate number he told us. I had thought we could water the garden as much as we wanted but that doesn't appear to be the case.

Obed, you say " The well digger " told you he dug the well and you had a good flow rate....There is a huge difference between a " Dug" well and a " Drilled " well....The drilled well, which I hope you have taps into the aquifer below the bedrock whereas the dug well relies on surface water and shallow pockets of water, the first to dry up in a drought....Which do you have....? Drilled or Dug...?
 
   / At Home In The Woods #4,333  
brin said:
Obed, you say " The well digger " told you he dug the well and you had a good flow rate....There is a huge difference between a " Dug" well and a " Drilled " well....The drilled well, which I hope you have taps into the aquifer below the bedrock whereas the dug well relies on surface water and shallow pockets of water, the first to dry up in a drought....Which do you have....? Drilled or Dug...?

It depends on the area. My well is 5' deep and I've never run out of water. I even would fill my 400 gallon sprayer from this well without any issues. Some areas just have good water and lots of it. However, across the road they run out of water because the soil is different.
 
   / At Home In The Woods #4,334  
It depends on the area. My well is 5' deep and I've never run out of water. I even would fill my 400 gallon sprayer from this well without any issues. Some areas just have good water and lots of it. However, across the road they run out of water because the soil is different.

Yep, you are right about that Robert...it is the same here in Georgia...but as a rule a drilled well is better than a dug well for a variety of reasons...at least that is what I have been led to believe all these years...but I am no well expert..I sure have had a bunch of them drilled over the years on different properties..

PS - don't forget you may have something close to Artisan...I always have wished every time I had a well drilled that they would hit Artisan...that is a sight to behold..
 
   / At Home In The Woods #4,335  
brin said:
Yep, you are right about that Robert...it is the same here in Georgia...but as a rule a drilled well is better than a dug well for a variety of reasons...at least that is what I have been led to believe all these years...but I am no well expert..I sure have had a bunch of them drilled over the years on different properties..

PS - don't forget you may have something close to Artisan...I always have wished every time I had a well drilled that they would hit Artisan...that is a sight to behold..

My well is spring fed. My side of route 20 is all springs so lack of water is never a problem
 
   / At Home In The Woods #4,336  
It depends on the area. My well is 5' deep and I've never run out of water. I even would fill my 400 gallon sprayer from this well without any issues. Some areas just have good water and lots of it. However, across the road they run out of water because the soil is different.

Do you not worry with surface contamination or runoff into a well that shallow?
 
   / At Home In The Woods #4,338  
clemsonfor said:
Do you not worry with surface contamination or runoff into a well that shallow?

It has never been an issue, the well is in the basement so the ground filters it well. When tested it came up fine, my house has a system that adds a small amount of bleach to the system as it runs and that is all the health department wanted.
 
   / At Home In The Woods
  • Thread Starter
#4,339  
Our previous house had a 30 ft deep 24 in dia. well. The water was great. The key to preventing a well from getting surface water contamination is to make sure the casing at the surface doesn't leak. Soil does an amazing job of cleaning water. I have read that you can drink water that comes from your septic leach lines once the water has run though only one foot of soil.
 
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