water well drilling info

[747driver]

Thanks for all the info guys ! This really helps me understand wells much better. The current well we have at the house has no pressure tank or filters. Comes straight out of the ground to the home....found no reason to install filters or pressure tank. Am i missing something as this was the way it was installed and works fine.

 

[Dennisfly]

Thanks for all the info guys ! This really helps me understand wells much better. The current well we have at the house has no pressure tank or filters. Comes straight out of the ground to the home....found no reason to install filters or pressure tank. Am i missing something as this was the way it was installed and works fine.

It's my understanding that you want a pressure tank with a diaphragm to cut down the number of pump cycles and make the pump last longer. A particulate filter is cheap and can only improve the quality of your water. You should have your water tested and then conditioned in accordance with the test. If you are lucky you won't need conditioning. But if it is hard, or contains iron, or is acidic, etc, it could ruin your plumbing, fixtures, and water related appliances if not conditioned.

 

[300UGUY]

A local plumber can set you up with the right filters, tanks or whatever you need. Around here, a 200 ft well is around $5k. That's a 5 inch well.

 

[Ed of all trades]

I would have the company that drilled the well install the pump. My neighbor just built two big chicken houses and had a well dug for them. The water was a little brown and they thought it would clear up. In about a week it started pumping mud. My neighbor tried to pull the pump and it was stuck. the well co. came could not pull it. the well co. brought in the drill rig and tied again and the pump was still stuck and they could not get the pipe loose from the pump. They tried using the "drill" to push it down and they got 100' of drill rod stuck in the well. after working two days and getting some kind of 'air hammer" thing they got out 20' and quit for the day. The guy was just worn out trying to get it figured out. The farmer has two houses full of chickens and is hauling water in a semi tanker.

I go into all of this to say If you have problems even small problems it is better to have one co. to deal with instead of two blaming the other and you paying the bill. Ed

 

[KevT]

WOW!!! My well is at 40 foot with pump at 35. 4" casing and get 38 gpm. Just had it put in last year at a cost of $3300.00

 

[Xfaxman]

Thanks for all the info guys ! This really helps me understand wells much better. The current well we have at the house has no pressure tank or filters. Comes straight out of the ground to the home....found no reason to install filters or pressure tank. Am i missing something as this was the way it was installed and works fine.

That is the way ours was, then I found out it had a stainless steel Inwell Pressure Tank and a Cycle Stop Valve down in the 6 inch casing.

I have replaced it with a CSV and small pressure tank in an underground box, here is the thread: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/271589-water-well-pump-monitor.html

 

[Garycw]

That's a deep well for sure. And require a heavy duty pump. Being from Greeneville I know you'll have some good quality water in east tn. Are there any good springs near the homesite?

 

[Cord]

That's a very deep well, but it has good flow. At 25 gpm, what is the water depression? In other words, what is the recharge rate without dropping the water level? At that point I'd go shopping for a pump that will match that gpm at the pressure you want. I try to match the calculated delivery rate of the pump to the recharge rate of the well. This way you won't run out of water. Personally, I like high pressure because everything works better. 80 psi is the max so I set my high cut off switches at 78 psi. A standard pump can't make that kind of pressure so with your lift you'll be looking at an expensive pump. Personally, I don't like it when the pump setters pick a pump for me. I don't know what I'm getting. Yea, they throw around 1/2hp or 3hp, but how many gpm at what pressure? That's what really matters! When you look at the pump charts you have to cross reference your friction loss to the pressure to the lift to determine the gpm.

Yes, you will want a pressure tank. And not a undersized one shown in the picture above. Frankly, you really can't go too big on the tank. The bigger the tank the longer the pump run time and the fewer the starts. Starts is what kills the pumps, they can run all day without damage (so long as they stay submerged). Also be sure to have the correct sized pitless, drop pipe and lateral pipe installed. I have 1" on my pump at the friction loss at 17gpm is off the charts. If you want to hit 17gpm, go no less than 1.25". 1.5" would be even better and required if you are over 17gpm.

This depth is really beyond your ability to set the pump. It will get very heavy and only gets worse the deeper you go. The problem is that many pump setters make money off their pumps so they don't like it when you give them the pump to install. I've used Tuhorse pumps off Ebay with very good results in the past.

 

[4570Man]

My Grandpa had some oil drillers want to drill on his land. After they worked out a contact he agreed to let them drill. The hole was dry, but they drilled to 1800 feet and capped it at 700 feet. He had someone come do a survey of the ground water level, and use dynamite to blow a hole in the casing at about 400 feet. He set the pump at 200 feet, and never could pump it dry. He left the pump running all night once, and used it to fill up 500 gallon tanks.

 

[Xfaxman]

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Yes, you will want a pressure tank. And not a undersized one shown in the picture above. Frankly, you really can't go too big on the tank. The bigger the tank the longer the pump run time and the fewer the starts. Starts is what kills the pumps, they can run all day without damage (so long as they stay submerged). ------------------

I guess you have never had a Cycle Stop Valve. Our pump is over ten years old. If you are running a lot of water, like three sprinklers on new sod for two hours, the pump only starts one time. :thumbsup: