Good vs Poor Wells - What makes a well a good well?

[Pettrix]

I was talking with someone and they said a well like mine is OK but not not high producing.

Static Water Level = 208 feet
Well depth = 500 feet
Pump depth = 480 feet
Drawdown after 1 hour of 20GPM+ of pumping (1,200 gallons of water) = water level @ 308 feet (100' of draw down)

I know there are wells out there that have 50-100+ GPM of output but for residential use. I believe it's a pretty good well. Plus the depth of the well allows for a lot of storage room and the production improved the deeper we went.

So what makes a good or poor producing well?

 

[CalG]

geology

 

[Raspy]

Seems like it would be considered "good" if it produces good healthy drinkable water and has enough volume to meet your needs.

 

[TomSeller]

I don't know the data on mine but I have a cistern so I think that tells me the sustained GPM is lower?

 

[Pettrix]

Let's say the water quality is good but what about water volume? How many gallons per minute would one say makes a good producing well?

 

[CADplans]

How many gallons per minute would one say makes a good producing well?

That all depends on need,,,
I had a friend south of Roanoke that lived with a 1GPM well,,, 4 in the home,,,
2 of them were women (LOTS of water usage!!) and he knew how to make it work.

If he would have purchased a half dozen cattle for his pasture,,,
he would have had REAL water problems.

 

[Pettrix]

That all depends on need,,,
I had a friend south of Roanoke that lived with a 1GPM well,,, 4 in the home,,,
2 of them were women (LOTS of water usage!!) and he knew how to make it work.

With 1GPM that would be very tough but maybe a storage tank would help out.

For an average family of 4 people. A well that produces 10GPM should be more than sufficient, unless everyone decides to take a shower at the same time.

 

[Pettrix]

What is a good drawdown reading?

On my well the 100' drop in water level took 1 hour of 20GPM+ of pumping.

I still had 170 feet of well water depth left from the water level drop to the pump depth. Not sure how much longer it would have taken to keep drawing down or if I would have run out of pump HP.

 

[RickB]

Let's say the water quality is good but what about water volume? How many gallons per minute would one say makes a good producing well?

A minimum of 5 GPM is required "here" for a home on a private well to get BoH approval. My 330 ' well with a high static level just squeaked by.

 

[Egon]

If it meets your needs and your satisfied it's a good well.