Building a house on an artesian well?

[not2old]

You need to hire an engineer for this. There is likely too much money involved for you to gamble on it. In 1996, I spent $320,000.00 building a house on a $280,000.00 lot. About half way through the project I had a few sleepless nights when it suddenly dawned on me that if anything went wrong, I had no contractor to sue. A few thousand dollars now will let you relax and then have some insurance available in the case of a disaster.

 

[Egon]

Florida aquifers - Plant Management in Florida Waters


Information on Florida Aquifers.:thumbsup:

 

[sandman2234]

Well, now that we know where it is, I can probably offer some answers, as I owned a piece of property not far from his location with a 400 foot artesan well.
The well is typically going to be a flowing well, though some don't have quite enough to flow year round, the good ones do.
Ground water (ie water table) has limited impact on this well, as it pulls its water from the aqufer, not surface water.
All land in Florida is deemed swamp land and yes there are many basements in Florida. My last house needed a yard well and I attemped to wash down a shallow well, but got the casing pipe stuck. Being too cheap to just cut it off and leave it, I grabbed a shovel and started digging. Casing broke free when I had the hole 12' 6" and I was standing on dry dirt (yes in Florida)
O/p might consider the purchase of a lot or partial lot adjoining his to move his house, but $$$$$ in that area. I would add or adapt a small room to where the well is and have provisions to pipe the well towards the exterior of the house. There are several reputable well drilling companies in town that can offer the best method of piping it out. Since the age of the casing is unknown, a pvc liner would be easily installed before walls were put up.
Do we need to start a" Save the Wales" bumper sticker?

I can show you a million dollar home over in Mandrin, just south of 295 that was built in 89 and the owner doesn't know it. Cracks in his bricks not evident in his neighbors homes two years later told me a story that he would pay a brick mason to fix.
David from jax

 

[justwater]

this is one of the last artesian wells we drilled on the north side of Jacksonville i just happened to snap a pic of. it was descent, probably 8-12 psi and about 30-40gpm. i've seen some that really rock and roll though. heres one. 6" closer to 250-300gpm.

havent really messed around much south of Jax Beach, but we do have one or two in St. Johns county and some around Southside. i'd think your well is closer to the 450, and maybe deeper.. but dont quote me, this is kind of a nutty area and it can change alot within a short distance.

i wouldnt think building over the open well is even an option, it would never get passed.. you will be required to plug that well (and i would agree), meaning concrete from the limerock to the top of the casing. so long as this is done, i wouldnt think twice about building over it. these wells are cased all the way to the limerock, so no worries as long as its professionally plugged.

yes, you could always move the house somewhere else. but hey, if you're dead set on building on that spot then plug it, i wouldnt blame you either way. you can always drill another artesian well.. just takes $$

 

[TheGoose]

Don't you just love it when a professional who knows what they're talking about settles the issue?

Thanks justwater.

 

[johnrex62]

Reading this thread makes me think back to the winter of 85 when my hometown had record rainfalls and the acquifer levels rose to the highest in living memory. There were quite a few of the historic homes around town that the owners discovered, much to their dismay, had been unknowingly built on artesian wells. It was quite a shock to find their basements and crawlspaces filling with water in the middle of the night. Many of these homes had been continously occupied for a hundred years or more with no notion of the wells presence.

Considering the damage these wells caused in a couple days of flowing, I would be hard pressed to build over such a potential hazard without some serious professional assurance that a well was competently dealt with in a permanent and verifiable manner. Flowing water can undermine a slab quickly under the right circumstances.

 

[clemsonfor]

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Thanks to you all who have given your insight!!!
As to the well, it is a drilled well, apparently 250-450 ft deep. No permits were ever pulled on it, so we don't know why it was drilled (probably irrigation for an old large estate??)
I've been told by various drillers, and the Dept. of River Management, that it's drilled through limestone at the bottom. The land in the area is flat, and about 1/2 mile from the ocean (Just south of Jacksonville Beach, Fl.).
The lot is not very large, that's why we think the footprint'll need to be over the well (unless it's a crazy zig-zag custom design...).
The development has about 16 houses built in 1998. No one knows of any problems w/the lot, or our prop....but the lots abutting ours, 5 in a row, where we are building, are empty....
I would like to actually use the well (irragation only), but don't think our house will fit that way.

Can we channel the well to the back of the prop.? I'm VERY worried about the idea of sealing it, and then have it sprout elsewhere-under our home!!!
Tx.!!

Are these large or small lots. Like .5 acre or 5 acres. My guess is there small as you say you need to have this place to build on. I would not build on a well, but thats me. Why not buy an adjacent lot and sell yours or have a dbl lot then and build right next to you, you said they were vacant.

 

[clemsonfor]

For whatever reason...no one is on the same page around here.
Our builder is not comfortable about building "on the well"...Our drillers see no reason not to build, once filled properly...The county isn't hesitant...But no one is working together!

Builder is shy about it, cause he has a warrenty to put on his work after he finishes. Even if you sign away your warrenty or you have no problems in the yr or 5 yrs that he gives you, what happens in 10 yrs if it settles terrible? You try and sell it or others see what happend, they look at who built it and its a reflection they feel of his skill and work. They say things like "he should have known better than to build on a well (unstable ground)" or look at the shoddy work.

 

[adjusterr]

If the water flowed out after the const. vehicle accident, with no pump in place you have a bonafied artesian well. Like I posted previously, this can be a real asset. However, please build your house as far away as possible from the well. Living up on mountain in Maryland, I'm not real familiar with Florida climate other than to suspect you can have some real dampness problems. The addition of an artesian well close to your foundation could be a source of additional dampness therefore mold and mildew. Good luck.

 

[JB4310]

this is one of the last artesian wells we drilled on the north side of Jacksonville i just happened to snap a pic of. it was descent, probably 8-12 psi and about 30-40gpm. i've seen some that really rock and roll though. heres one. 6" closer to 250-300gpm.

havent really messed around much south of Jax Beach, but we do have one or two in St. Johns county and some around Southside. i'd think your well is closer to the 450, and maybe deeper.. but dont quote me, this is kind of a nutty area and it can change alot within a short distance.

i wouldnt think building over the open well is even an option, it would never get passed.. you will be required to plug that well (and i would agree), meaning concrete from the limerock to the top of the casing. so long as this is done, i wouldnt think twice about building over it. these wells are cased all the way to the limerock, so no worries as long as its professionally plugged.

yes, you could always move the house somewhere else. but hey, if you're dead set on building on that spot then plug it, i wouldnt blame you either way. you can always drill another artesian well.. just takes $$

Nice, mother nature at it's best.

If it's cased so far down, sounds like there is no chance of leaking up around the pipe. Couldn't you go down 10 feet and come off with a 90 or 45 and bring it up out side the homes foot print?

Being in FL, how deep are your footings for slab construction? if any.

JB.