Rock-Filled Well

[Nodak]

We recently bought a 9-acre abandoned farmstead in NE North Dakota (as a retirement home site). The farmstead contains an 18" diameter well with concrete 'crock' walls and a concrete cap.

The previous owner was concerned with someone falling into the well. Rather than mound dirt over the cap, the 32-foot-deep well was filled with rocks, ranging in size from fist-sized to watermelon-sized.

We would like to clean out the existing well, rather than having a new one drilled. Does anyone know of any method for removing these rocks or do we bite the bullet and either re-drill or sign up for rural water?

We have been told the water was the best in the township, but the property has been unoccupied for about 40 years. Family members in the area could fabricate almost anything from metal and have volunteered to help.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[jimmoore]

Nodak,do you know for sure that the well still has water in it. It would be rough to remove all the rocks to find the well had gone dry years past.

jim

 

[RPM]

Re-drill it - it's just not worth the time and risk to clear out the well. If you ever have anything approaching a drought I'm sure that 32 footer (if that's the correct depth) would dry out.

The only practical way to clear it would be to send someone down - but I think we've all seen enough TV footage to know that's not such a smart idea.

Patrick

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

Nodak,

I'm assuming the well has been abandoned and filled for 40 years? If so, the quality of the water may not be that good. Your local health department could give you some guidelines on required well depths. This well may not be legal to use for potable (drinking) water.

SHF

 

[MarkV]

Nodak,
Everyplace has differnt rules, but I know, in my area, that a 32 ft. well is to shallow to be legal by todays standards. At that depth, you would get to much ground water penetration which could bring in all kinds of run off nasties. I would think that after being filled for 40 years the odds of it having good water at this point would be slim.

If you wanted to clean it out, I would think some type of tripod, pulley, winch and chain basket for the rock would be the way to go. Just don't ask me to be the one in the hole./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

MarkV

 

[cowboydoc]

No kidding too shallow. The well I just drilled at the new place they had to go 485 feet to get to water.

 

[s1120]

The house next door to our land was sold just recently. The new owners told us they have a 20' (that’s right 20 foot) dug well!!! They had all the tests performed and everything checked out fine so they are continuing to use the well. After the house closing, the previous owner "just happened" to mention that the well freezes in the winter, which is why there is a kerosene heater in the well house. If you want water you have to keep the heater running. Apparently this stuff must meet code or else it wouldn’t have passed the inspections.

We are a little better off as the drilled well on our property sounded out at 45'.

Now if we could only figure out a way to locate the septic system on the property!

Michele

 

[SteveV]

A variation on what's being said: 40 years ago the motor oil was dumped on the ground and nobody thought better of it. If rock was dumped in, was anything else? SteveV

 

[GlueGuy]

I know what you're getting at, but if it was something like motor oil, then as an organic, it would surely have broken down by now. Around here, they've discovered that even the plume from old gas stations (gasoline tanks), degrade to a relatively low harm level in as little as 10 years.

Of course, that doesn't apply to everything that "could have" been dumped down there. I agree that it would be some concern.

However, considering how shallow the water table was, a decent 100' well would probably be a winner nearby.

The GlueGuy

 

[heehaw]

clean it out, my folks drilled a well in 1955, its 39 ft deep, and they have had plenty of water all this time. the water in most wells doesn't just sit there waiting to be pumped out, it is usually flowing in and out, somewhat, some more than others. what we read about an see on tv is folks/kids that fall in wells they don't know are there, aren't protected, or have no one else around, if you clean it out, lots of folks are gonna know where you are an what your doin. i had a place on top of what appeared to be a solid rock mtn; the well was 30 ft. and it was good water, used sparingly in the summers, but enough with a little conservation. depth of the well does not mean its good.
heehaw