1 gallon/ minute?

farmerpsv · Jun 15, 2005

Hey all,
am getting a well drilled and getting prices from several companies. got a reference for a co. that's been doing this 35 years. there agreement is no water no pay (really includes 2 holes is necessary, which it usually isnt in our area). anyway, the guarantee is a well that will produce "1 gallon per minute"...is it just me, or does that seem whimpy?, the guarantee also includes 10 feet of water in the well, well is guaranteed a year as is the pump. does this sound alright?
thanks
paul

Gatorboy · Jun 15, 2005

anyway, the guarantee is a well that will produce "1 gallon per minute"... 

That's the guarantee, most lilkely it will produce much better results.

DHennet · Jun 15, 2005

Someone else who knows the facts will have to validate, but I believe that 1 GPM is the min. that will meet code. Now first hand I can tell you that my well report states that mine is 2 GPMs and I wish the original owner had looked for a better well site on the property. My well is 300' with static at 25 according to the well report from the early '90s. Visually the static level is deeper now. At 2 GPMs my draw down is fast and recovery is slow. These are observations from a layman.

gsganzer · Jun 15, 2005

( the guarantee is a well that will produce "1 gallon per minute"...is it just me, or does that seem whimpy?, the guarantee also includes 10 feet of water in the well, well is guaranteed a year as is the pump. does this sound alright?
thanks
paul )

That doesn't sound right. I think I can produce my "Own" water at 1 gpm. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

A rate like 7 gpm seems to ring a bell for some reason.

If you're using a submersible pump, I've heard they like to have 40 feet of water above the pump for draw down. That's what my well guy said when I had him out a few years back.

Phils · Jun 15, 2005

It's "not just you". Minimum in our area to meet county requirements is 3 GPM.

Phil

ByronBob · Jun 15, 2005

Anything under 6 or 7 GPM will require your patience because you'll use the water up faster than the well will refill it.

At 3 GPM you need a holding tank to help you refill for heavy uses.

At 6 GPM your system will refill as fast as you use it.

At 10 GPM most houses will never run out

For the record I have 16 GPM. I filled the pool, did wash and took a shower at the same time. Water pressure was low but never ran out of water. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

1 GPM is not acceptable. You'd be paying for a well which would render your needs useless.

Talk to people and see what they have for water in the surrounding area before going any further.

tc35dforme · Jun 15, 2005

For what its worth.....as an observation...low recovery wells tend to have better water ( lower solids / minerals ).

In my opinion, the key really isn't recovery in GPM, but reather residual water in the well. I have less than .5 GPM ( don't tell anyone !!! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif ), but have a 428' deep hole with a static water level at about 12'. With that I have about 400 gallons of water to work with. I wouldn't fill a pool, but have never been even slightly concerned by my daily use....

As for quality, every other well within my area is loaded with iron....the neighbor ( 1/4 mile away ) actually is on his fourth drilled well...my water tested clean as could be....go figure !!!

Junkman · Jun 15, 2005

I also am in New England with a slow producing deep well (475') and have never run out of water in the 20+ years we have lived here. I do have some iron bacteria problems, but nothing that is disastrous. As much as we have watered the lawn when it was new, I would have been concerned of pulling the well down, but it never happened. There are a lot of factors that need to be considered. If the home is occupied by 2 adults and number of children is one of the main factors. I remember when I rented my old home to a single woman that used more water in a month than the previous couple with one child used in 3 months. When I asked her how she could use so much water, she explained that she did 4 to 5 loads of laundry a week and 3 showers a day. It isn't how much water your well produces, but how you manage the water usage.

beenthere · Jun 15, 2005

What kind of pump would one put into a well that could only recover 1 gpm?

Seems if it was a submersible, it would have to have a water level control that would shut the pump down if no water, so it wouldn't burn out.
I may not recall correctly, but my well (320') drilled in 1968 broke into water after 300' of drilling, but the water came up to 90'. Pumped 30 gpm and didn't lower the level measureably, so I was told. The pump hangs at about 240' and can pump continously (don't know the rate) with no problem. Hope it stays that way. But, I understand the pump will burn up if it isn't in water. Or is it protected someway?

If there is a shut-off, does it kick back on when enough water trickles back in, and then shut off again? Seems like an unworkable situation for a well, if it only can produce 1 gpm

Jimbrown · Jun 15, 2005

I would take a 1 gallon a minute gaurantee any time. In this part of the country no driller will guarantee water period. I have a neighbor who drilled three 400 ft holes before getiting a 2 gallon a minute well. I know of another person who went 1100 ft and it was dry. Low producing wells are quite common. The trick is to pump to a storage tank. Mine is 550 gallons. My pump is solar driven and pumps 2 gallons a minute. The well will actually pump 20 or better but I would have to run power to the well which I do not want to do. They make special pump controllers that are designed for low producing wells. They will automatically turn on and off with the amount water in the well. If mine detects no water it shuts down for 20 minutes. In 20 minutes it trys again. It will do this three times and if it is still dry it shuts down for two hours. Mine is 300 ft deep and the static water level is 80 ft.