Does anyone here keep track of their water table?

[CobyRupert]

Good suggestion on monitoring outtake. Turning it off for a day will measure recover time, or if it does.
...but how much is being pumped out in a day?
I don’t know who makes a cheap motor monitor/recorder that could tell you how much time pump runs over a day.
Could always alligator clip a small mechanical clock (1/15 amp) downstream of the pressure switch and see how much it advances over 24 hours. Remember pump is probably 240V, only take 120V.

 

[1930]

Im not freaking out, just wondering if its common for a water table to drop that significantly and am grateful that I took the initiative to measure the water table before the installer came out otherwise Id have a pump 1 foot below the surface of the water table and would be calling them back out again ( Im sure minimum of another gee ) to have them drop the pump.

Im gonna do as suggested and monitor the water table myself, I drop a heavy object attached to a string down the well that they were SUPPOSED to abandon ( that I mentioned in another thread ) ( which they never did and the guy knew nothing about ) and I wait till I hear the splash, pull it back up and measure distance from top of casing to the loophole I make in the rope at the splash.

 

[jaydee325]

Call the county department that oversees wells, and septic systems.

I had a question about my well, and called the county. Person pulled my file and told me quite a few details of my well. He knew the strata at various elevations and told me there was actually 2 aquifers flowing below. One at 30' that was weak, and one at 80', which I was pulling water from. I was quite impressed.

 

[/pine]

We use what is called "surface water"...it's captured right where it comes out of the ground on the side of the mountain...most call it a spring or branch water (a splash added to bourbon is delightful)...locals refer to it as "gravity water" as there is no pump needed...we use a series of tanks...the water consistently tests better than neighboring bored wells...

The overflow from the last in the series of tanks supplies our (water feature) bird bath and the overflow from that is piped into the river...the flow from the birdbath makes for an excellent monitor for the flow from the "spring"...but the river level is also a good indicator of the current water table...
The temp of the water at the spring is a fairly constant 50*- 52* F

The elevation change from the spring to the house creates about 60 PSI...It's great not having to rely on electricity to have water during power outages...and in extreme cold temps it is not an issue to let the water run to prevent freezing of the lines that in some places have not been buried because of the steep grade...

On a side note there are several "springs" in different (wet) coves on the mountain and every one of them has the remnants of liquor stills and charcoal mounds etc...

 

[BrokenTrack]

Im not freaking out, just wondering if its common for a water table to drop that significantly and am grateful that I took the initiative to measure the water table before the installer came out otherwise Id have a pump 1 foot below the surface of the water table and would be calling them back out again ( Im sure minimum of another gee ) to have them drop the pump.

Im gonna do as suggested and monitor the water table myself, I drop a heavy object attached to a string down the well that they were SUPPOSED to abandon ( that I mentioned in another thread ) ( which they never did and the guy knew nothing about ) and I wait till I hear the splash, pull it back up and measure distance from top of casing to the loophole I make in the rope at the splash.

My suggestion is to use a block of wood with a screw put in it. Then tie a string to the screw on the block of wood. When the string goes slack, that is your water level.

"Listening for the splash" might be introducing some inaccuracy.

 

[1930]

This would be safer since if the string broke the wood would go away eventually versus the steel that Ive been using. Thanks

 

[chim]

I helped a buddy pull his well pump and there were plastic "spiders" that I guess were there to protect the wiring going down to the pump. Are all well pump lines equipped with these? If so, how can you drop something to the water level? Never had a well myself, so I don't know.

 

[1930]

Might be they were torque resistors to stop the pump from twisting upon start up and banging against casing. I do not have these, straight shot all the way down

 

[ruffdog]

Absolutely guessing - might there soon be news reports of a huge sinkhole opening up somewhere near you?

Yeah, NE of Tampa gets lots of sinkholes and also huge amount of municipal water gets pumped out of the ground.

 

[/pine]

The strawberry farmers seem to get a free pass on the amount of water they pump out of the ground to put a coating of protective ice on their plants...it almost always causes some sinkholes...their second picking is almost 100% pure profit but we all end up paying more for insurance...!