Need water advice

gcp · Feb 5, 2018

Folks, the county water in no longer an option for me, long term, and if you could see the lay of my land I think you’d agree. For the record, the 3/4” PVC has provided great pressure over the 11 years I’ve used it. It was not a trickle at all and very satisfactory for showers and all other uses of water, within our mobile home and outdoors.

Having to request/purchase access from neighbors is not as preferable a solution to me when compared to being completely independent.

As stated in my original post, my new water connection will not be for drinking, we use nothing but bottled water when at the property. And if/when we sell, the new owners can improve, or not, the existing set up.

In rural Alabama I’m not bound by the strict regulations most of you have to abide by. Non-the-less, I will make absolutely sure our water is healthy for our weekend use (absent of pathogens, and filtered twice, e.g. prior to going into my cistern and prior to going into my house). I’ve already began looking into filtrations systems, UV, and auto chlorination.

I’ve discussed installation of a well with a local company, and expect the cost to be approx. $5K, which is not prohibitive at all, but I am still gathering data from all sides to assure I make the best and most cost effective decision for my case.

For the time I am leaning toward option 2. This weekend I’ll make needed measurements so we can precisely calculate involved flows for selecting the right pump, the required piping, how high I must elevate the cistern to allow gravity to feed the water rather than requiring a second pump at the output (and how to possibly utilize rain water, in addition to). BTW, I have a 25HP Yanmar tractor with a 5KW PTO driven generator so as an interim solution I can always power a submerged pond pump to push water to my cistern(s), until I can run permanent power to the pond.

I think I’ve answered most of your question, thanks again to all for your ideas and for taking the time to respond!

LouNY · Feb 5, 2018

I just read your post, your pond is fed from a pond / spring ? Is the spring part on your property? A pre cast dry well set in a spring on a gravel base will function like a dug well, install a 1/3 or 1/2hp submersible well pump in it run power in the same ditch with your pipe and you have a complete system. My dug well is 2 4 feet in diameter dry well tiles and 2 solid tiles for a 12 foot deep dug well with a concrete cover and a suspended pump works good, I also had to have a drilled well added for mortgage company and added capacity. Had it witched before we drilled.

MossRoad · Feb 5, 2018

What kind of soil do you have?
Is there rock under it?
How far down is your water table?

How about pounding in your own 2" well by hand using a sand point?

gcp · Feb 5, 2018

MossRoad, my water table shouldn't be too deep but I'd probably have sandstone to deal with. Please enlighten me on how to go about doing this.

MossRoad · Feb 5, 2018

Around here its all sand. So you can get a well sand point and sections of 2" pipe, couplings, and a post driver.

You screw on a sacrificial coupling to the well point and start driving it into the soil. When it goes in a couple feet, unscrew the sacrificial coupling, install a good coupling, install another section of pipe, put the sacrificail coupling on top, and pound some more. Repeat. Drive it down until you hit water.

JB13502 · Feb 5, 2018

gcp said:
MossRoad, my water table shouldn't be too deep but I'd probably have sandstone to deal with. Please enlighten me on how to go about doing this.

Google “Driven Well”.... Lot’s of information. Might be the perfect fix!

hawkeye08 · Feb 5, 2018

If you have some water now, perhaps drill your own well?

https://www.drillyourownwell.com/ and others (I googled "drill your own well").. I was thinking about doing an extra well myself, but the regulations and such do not allow it currently (at least where we are now).

quicksandfarmer · Feb 5, 2018

In lake country it's very common for people with lake-front cottages just to pull water out of the lake. A pipe running into the lake and a shallow well pump is all you need. Then either drink bottled water, or look into water treatment systems (chlorine or UV).

If you want to drill a well it varies tremendously depending on the local geology. In some parts of the country you can create a well using a pounding point and a held-held fence post pounder. In some parts you can jet a hole with a garden hose and a piece of PVC to make a serviceable well. In other places you have to drill through 600' of granite. Depending on your geology heavy equipment may not be necessary.

A local well-digger will know what to expect. Around here all new wells have to be registered with the state, how deep they are, how much they produce and what kind of soil they're in. If your state has something similar that may give you an idea of what's down there too.

MossRoad · Feb 5, 2018

Here's a link to one at Home Depot for comparison.

Water Source 2 in. x 36 in. Well Point-WPF368 - The Home Depot

There's a point, a driving coupling and a driving cap for less than $90. Then you'd add sections of pipe and couplings to go as deep as you want/need.