New Well

[8N Ren]

The wife and I got a little sick and tired of running out of water, 5 times since we moved in at the end of December 2011. Our old well is 27ft deep with a concrete casing at the bottom and a 15ft long 30 inch diameter culvert pipe stuck in the middle of the casing that travels up to the surface. That thing takes a longtime to replenish so it was time to do something about this, heaven forbid you'd want to take a shower, do a load of laundry and then flush the toilet lol. Also I had extended the water intake line as close to the bottom of the well as I could. This worked for awhile but in the end we had a local company come out and drill.

This new one is 137ft deep, casing is at 116ft, just need to get it hooked up to the house. My plan is to remove the submersible pump from the old and put it in the new. We won't seal off the old well but we plan on getting a hand pump and I'll whip up a better lid as the one that's on there is concrete and about 7 inches thick. The old guy that owned the land was paranoid about someone falling in, sheesh it takes 2 men and a small boy to remove the friggin thing, or a buddy with a loader. Anyways here's some pics of the expensive day.

 

[oldpilgrim]

I doubt that the same pump that works at 27 ft well work in a 137 foot well. The deeper you go, the more horsepower you need to pump that water up.

There's a formula for calculating the size of the pump you need at different depths, I don't have it handy.

 

[deerseeker001]

I have to agree,talk to the Well driller and he will tell you what hp you need.

I doubt that the same pump that works at 27 ft well work in a 137 foot well. The deeper you go, the more horsepower you need to pump that water up.

There's a formula for calculating the size of the pump you need at different depths, I don't have it handy.

 

[fordmantpw]

Just curious, if you don't mind me asking, what's it cost to drill a well up there? We are building a house, and our well is going to be about 400-450 feet deep, total cost running about $20/foot.

Enjoy your new well with plenty of water to spare!

 

[Cat_Driver]

The old guy that owned the land was paranoid about someone falling in, sheesh it takes 2 men and a small boy to remove the friggin thing, or a buddy with a loader. Anyways here's some pics of the expensive day.

View attachment 373326

Don't be so quick to condemn the old man. Years ago I almost got killed by someone who built a wooden platform over a well that was then covered over bu years of blow sand. Well years later as I was land clearing the site I drove over the "hidden" well and dropped down the hole and was stopped by the bucket on the loader being down which caught the edge. It was a hand hug well or worse yet a outhouse pit that was 8'x8'a 20' deep.

Not protecting abandoned wells can kill people decades down the road. Bravo to the old man and his paranoia for having the sense to know this.

 

[Jstpssng]

Don't be so quick to condemn the old man. Years ago I almost got killed by someone who built a wooden platform over a well that was then covered over bu years of blow sand. Well years later as I was land clearing the site I drove over the "hidden" well and dropped down the hole and was stopped by the bucket on the loader being down which caught the edge. It was a hand hug well or worse yet a outhouse pit that was 8'x8'a 20' deep.

Not protecting abandoned wells can kill people decades down the road. Bravo to the old man and his paranoia for having the sense to know this.

I have to agree about those old wells... they can become traps years after they're abandoned. I come across them out in the woods occasionally... found one this week that was about 2 1/2 feet around, 16 feet deep, with 4 feet of water in the bottom... if I hadn't already found the foundation I would never have known it was there.

 

[jaotguy]

I doubt that the same pump that works at 27 ft well work in a 137 foot well. The deeper you go, the more horsepower you need to pump that water up.

There's a formula for calculating the size of the pump you need at different depths, I don't have it handy.

it is really the distance from the Water level in the well ( water table level ) up to the house ... not how deep the well is
that determines the head ...

 

[Looking4new]

Just curious, if you don't mind me asking, what's it cost to drill a well up there? We are building a house, and our well is going to be about 400-450 feet deep, total cost running about $20/foot.

Enjoy your new well with plenty of water to spare!

I live in Ontario and the well driller I hired comes from 50 miles south of me. He charged me $11,000.oo to go 176'. That was complete with water into the house on its' own pressure tank separate from the dug well system.

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

In the Finger Lakes region of NY we paid $6300 for a well last spring. 145' deep with only 6" of soil before they hit rock the rest of the way...

 

[fordmantpw]

Sounds like I'm getting a decent deal then. My cost is including the pressure tank, pump, etc. Everything to bring water into the house. Amazing we need to go that much deeper though.

 

[YardBikeBob]

Anyways here's some pics of the expensive day.

Saw that 3rd pic with just the well head poking out of the ground. What is that white pipe? PVC? Is the electrical below ground?

Down here in Missouri they require 80' of continuous steel casing (i.e, four welded 20' sections). After that its up to you but everyone with any cents runs PVC casing all the way down.

My well in '08 was 340'. Water popped up to 200'. Pump placed at 240'. About the same price of 5 years of water bills back in the city so I'm already ahead.

Bob

 

[turnkey4099]

Saw that 3rd pic with just the well head poking out of the ground. What is that white pipe? PVC? Is the electrical below ground?

Down here in Missouri they require 80' of continuous steel casing (i.e, four welded 20' sections). After that its up to you but everyone with any cents runs PVC casing all the way down.

My well in '08 was 340'. Water popped up to 200'. Pump placed at 240'. About the same price of 5 years of water bills back in the city so I'm already ahead.

Bob

I'm wondering the same thing. PVC there is just asking to broken off. It also deteriorates from direct sun. It may be painted steel (hope it is).

Jusst another thought for people planning on drilling a well. When I did mine I specified that there be a 110 outlet on the well. I have found it to be a very convenient place for power tools vice running extension cords into that area.

Harry K

 

[YardBikeBob]

When I did mine I specified that there be a 110 outlet on the well. I have found it to be a very convenient place for power tools vice running extension cords into that area.

And 110 is real handy to have a thermostat outlet to run simple incandescent lights to keep the well house from freezing, too! Of course, those bulbs are illegal in this country. But still.

Bob

 

[8N Ren]

The current rate as of last week when I spoke to the project manager of the company is $32.50 per foot. The casing is white PVC for the entire un. We plan on covering it with a wishing well and that side of the house is quite shaded. It's not operational as of yet because the drillers don't do any hook up at all, I'm going to go see a friend from up the road and see if he and I can get it done, plus he's got a backhoe. If not I'll call the guy that originally did the old well hook up/septic system.
The reason I think we can use the current pump is this, it's submersible which is what is needed, and it's 220 volt. I can't remember the HP at the moment but I'll look it up, I do know that it's a Grundfos, the drillers thought it would be ok.
Good point about the well lid guys I guess I don't really think about it that way. The plus is the culvert pipe extends about 3 ft out of the ground so at least you can't just fall in while walking around.
If it turns out that we can't use that pump then the old well will stay connected and we will use it for the garden. If we can use it then I'll install a rustic looking hand pump on the old well with an appropriate lid.
Drilling is a bit of a monopoly here, the company that did it has been buying up all the competition, so it's slim pickins. The plus side is it's a family company in operation since 1896.

I just looked at the old invoice and the pump is 1/2 HP, do you guys think it's enough?

 

[Stick895]

I just had a well drilled for the house I'm having built in Chesterfield, VA. Don't know the cost of the drilling but looking at your picture I had to have mine drilled 50' from the house, whie yours looks like it's right next to it.

 

[Egon]

[video]http://www.aquascience.net/submersible-pumps/index.cfm?manufacturer=Grundfos[/video]

This sight has some pump curves on it.

Hope it helps.

 

[ruffdog]

At the same depth, around here many are 3/4 hp with the plastic tubing running up to the top. My well would be used for some extra pumping to irrigate seedlings so it is a 2hp with the larger metal (2" dia??) pipe. If I were to replace, I would go with the smaller unit now because I don't need the extra volume.

 

[8N Ren]

I just had a well drilled for the house I'm having built in Chesterfield, VA. Don't know the cost of the drilling but looking at your picture I had to have mine drilled 50' from the house, whie yours looks like it's right next to it.

It's 8 ft from the house, about 2 ft away from the old well lines, my reasoning for this is because 1 of the 5 times we ran out of water was because of my dumb### driving over the line everyday. I thought it would be ok but it drove the frost down like 8 ft!!!!!. It was an unusually cold winter this year and I want to insulate the pipe. Myself, and a few people I've talked to, agree that some 1" form board a foot or two above the line will stop that from happening. One guy around here did that and his line is only down 5 ft and he didn't have issues. Another reason is if I can't get my backhoe buddy I'll have to hire it out and obviously it's a lot cheaper to dig/trench 8 ft then 100ft.

Thanks for the link Egon.

So the trench/hole I'm planning on will be 8 ft long, 8-10 ft deep. The water line will go in, about a 1-2 ft of fill will be slightly packed and level, the foam board laid on that, then the rest of the fill will go in.

 

[Looking4new]

1" of styrofoam is equal to 1 foot of dirt cover. Physically my well feed pipe is down 5' and I've got 3" of styrofoam on top of it. So in theory my pipe is down 8".

 

[deerseeker001]

I also was thinking 3/4 hp and that is what I have.