Burying an artesian well below grade

   / Burying an artesian well below grade
  • Thread Starter
#11  
Well, it's been longer than a few weeks but I finally tackled this project and completed it. Boy am I glad I did, having this driveway open and clear will cure so many headaches. The big push to do this was last week when a friend backed into the well and cracked the cap, very slow nudge but enough to catch the cap with the bumper and crack it.

So, first thing first was to dig out around the well and cut the casing. Since the crappy plastic cap was cracked I got a new metal cap from Lowe's and it fits much tighter and is much stronger. Here is the old well: (click any picture for larger image)

And here it is cut, rewired and recapped:


Next, I had to cut 7" off of the well tile since I hit ledge and could not dig deeper. A concrete saw with diamond blade and water feed is an amazing machine, it went through this like butter and cut the whole thing in less than 20mins.


Then I drilled a 4-1/4" hole in the side of the well tile for the 4" drain pipe:

And then we hooked it up to the Kioti and got it ready to place in the hole. It was pretty amazing how easy it was to move this thing around.


Once it was in the hole and centered, I could start digging the trench for the drain pipe:
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Here are some shots of the ditch, I had to go 32" down and kept a 2% slope with a simple line level, some line, and 2 grade stakes:
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Once the drain was in I could seal it around where it went into the well tile and then put a small seal of silicone around the cover and put it in place. The silicone is so the cover cannot move since it does not have a lip or key, there is a very small amount of it so I am sure I will still be able to remove it when necessary. It was getting pretty dark by the time I got the pipe in. It also did not stay curved like in the picture, that was when I first laid it in the ditch and I straightened it out after.
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Here are a few shots from the 2nd story window before and after the ditch:
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And finally, the basic drawing I made with dimensions to the well so we can find it later on:


It is certainly not the easiest project but can be done in a solid day and the tractor made it so easy and so much cheaper not having to rent out equipment. A few local well companies quoted $2000-$3000 for this job and I did it for under $500. I love my tractor!
 
   / Burying an artesian well below grade #13  
Nice job! And to think you could dig that far and not hit major rocks or ledge, WOW
 
   / Burying an artesian well below grade
  • Thread Starter
#14  
Nice job! And to think you could dig that far and not hit major rocks or ledge, WOW

Yeah, I hit a few medium sized rocks that you can see beside the ditch but nothing the mighty backhoe couldn't move. I was surprised myself, although I think most of the driveway is fill and therefore not original ground.

Thanks for the compliments!
 
   / Burying an artesian well below grade #15  
funny to see this, in the last couple years i've had to weld extensions on drilled wells for 6 or 7 ppl. it was the "thing to do" having them buried a few years ago. now thier all comtaminated with ground water. but, none had the well casing, and drain like yours. looks good to me
 

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