Burying an artesian well below grade

[Dmace]

Hello all,

I am hoping someone out there as gone through putting their existing artesian well under grade and could shed some light on the process. I am widening the driveway and am sick of plowing around the well and having numerous people back into it because they cannot see it and it is in a bad spot.

I have a fairly new artesian well that was installed in the Spring of 2005 when the house was built and would like to bury it. I have heard that it needs to be in a cylindrical concrete casing and that the casing needs to have a 3"min PVC pipe set below the well cap and sloping out to air so that any shallow ground water does not penetrate the cap and contaminate my well water. Is there any thing else I need or have I been given false information on what needs to be done if it can be done at all? Any permits I need to apply for?

Any help is greatly appreciated as drilling a new well is not an option.

Below is a picture of the well, it is hard to tell from the angle but the well is practically in the middle of the secondary driveway leading to the shed on the right.

Click thumbnail for larger image, the well is under the blue bucket


If this can be done, using the tractor to dig around the well and install the concrete casing will certainly save a boat load of money. Another reason I am glad I got the backhoe.
Thanks in advance for any help

 

[atgreene]

It can be done, I've done several for my customers but there are several things to keep in mind. You will need access later, so it's best to use a riser and cover. If it's in a heavy vehicle traffic area you may need to use a heavier riser or vault, such as a catch basin style riser and cover. Talk to your local septic tank supplier, they can show you the options for risers.

Also, it needs to be drained so the well doesn't get water into it during high groundwater periods. The ones I have done we ran a 4" schd 45 drain out to a low point with a check valve to keep the critters out.

Also, be sure to write a description and draw a map on the foundation wall to it's location. I always do, as when I'm no longer around or am unavailable anyone can find it without making it look like a gopher field.

Good luck.

 

[Egon]

What type of casing do you have and at what pressure does the water come out at?

 

[Dmace]

It can be done, I've done several for my customers but there are several things to keep in mind. You will need access later, so it's best to use a riser and cover. If it's in a heavy vehicle traffic area you may need to use a heavier riser or vault, such as a catch basin style riser and cover. Talk to your local septic tank supplier, they can show you the options for risers.

Also, it needs to be drained so the well doesn't get water into it during high groundwater periods. The ones I have done we ran a 4" schd 45 drain out to a low point with a check valve to keep the critters out.

Also, be sure to write a description and draw a map on the foundation wall to it's location. I always do, as when I'm no longer around or am unavailable anyone can find it without making it look like a gopher field.

Good luck.

Thanks for the information atgreene, I figure I will use a concrete cylinder like a dry well (without holes) and cover with handles so it is still accesible but buried about 12" under grade. I wasn't thinking of blocking the PVC pipe for critters, that is a good idea. Also, being a surveyor I am going to locate the well, house and shed and then register it at the County Deed registry along with my subdivision plan for future homeowners and surveyors.

What type of casing do you have and at what pressure does the water come out at?

Ha Ha! I know everyone likes to call it something different, but I call your typical house pump well an artesian just because that is what most people refer to them as.

 

[atgreene]

We have a few around here that are try artesian. Pretty amazing to watch, some are over 50 gpm!

Biggest issue is that ground water doesn't flood the risers, good luck.

 

[Egon]

Everyones got me all confused again?

 

[KAB]

DMace,

My parents used to have their well in a pit, it used a "seal" to make sure that if the pit flooded that it would not contaminate the well. A few years back they had the well cleaned, casing extended and a "seal" (added a pitless adaptor for the water line) to cap the well and then filled the pit and covered the top of the casing.

Here is a website with what the seal looked liked: Aluminum well caps and cast iron well seals for water well pump installations. (second image) I have not seen what was used when the pit was filled and the casing covered.

Kurt

 

[LBrown59]

Everyones got me all confused again?

It was easy!

 

[plowking]

The precast riser or cover should have a H20 load rating,incase any trucks back over it. I recently had a customer who extended their driveway over their septic tank,the tank was only load rated for the lawn,the propane truck backed over the new section of gravel drive,it fell thru into septic tank,homeowners insurance had to pay because truck was still technically on the driveway. plowking

 

[Dmace]

All great information, Thank you all. I hope to start tackling this project within a few weeks.

 

[Dmace]

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:
__

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:
__

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.
__

Here are a few shots from the 2nd story window before and after the ditch:
___

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!

 

[Lasgambler]

Good Job. Makes your driveway much friendlier.

 

[WayneB]

Nice job! And to think you could dig that far and not hit major rocks or ledge, WOW

 

[Dmace]

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!

 

[theonlybull]

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