Shallow Well to Feed Pond

[Darren]

One of the problems when drilling a well is the geology in your area. Going deeper in West Virginia is no guarantee you'll find water unless you go deep enough, 4,000', to hit salt water. Going deeper most times in this area just provides a bigger reservoir in the ground. I've got one that stores 400 gal. If you're going to hit water, you're not talking hundreds of feet in this area. The problem is the amount of water you find often isn't enough flow for a good well.

If you can figure the surface area of your pond, you should be able to ballpark the amount of water that will be lost to evaporation. That will tell you how much flow you need to eventually fill the pond. It might take awhile but it will fill if the well can produce a flow greater than the losses.

The fact you already have water in the pond shows that there's an equilibrium between the runoff and rain filling the pond and the seepage and evaporation losses. All you have to do is increase the inflow recognizing that with a greater surface area you'll have more losses.

 

[OkeeDon]

The only thing I can relate is the experience I've had, and let you extrapolate the differences.

Florida land is sand. Our ponds are dug and fill from the bottom, depending on the height of the water table. After a good rain, our pond is nearly full -- within 12" of the surrounding land. When we go through a dry spell, the water table, and thus the level of the pond, drops as much as 6'.

My pond is small, about 110' x 115' x 6' average depth (at a guess). Attached is a picture shortly after we had it dug. This is the typical water table level when it has been relatively dry.

 

[OkeeDon]

I wanted to maintain it at a much higher level regardless of where the water table is. I talked to my well guy, and he recommended a 6" well with a 1 HP submersible pump. The pump will supply a steady 25 gallons/minute. Our well came it with a capability of about 75 gallons/minute, so if I need to once the house and barn are built, I can go to a higher HP pump.

I ran a 1-1/2" PVC line from the well to the pond (about 400' or so) and installed a Hudson float valve Hudon float valve to automatically maintain the level. Attached is a picture of the pond after the valve was installed.

The initial fill took 3 days (72 hours) of constant running at the full flow of the valve (something less than 25 gallons/minute) to bring it up to this level. Since then, the well runs a couple of hours per day to maintain the level versus the seepage through the sandy soil. The system works very nicely.

However, currently I have it turned off, because we're not living there yet, and it seems like a waste to maintain the level when no one can see it. I did keep it on for several months to try to determine the cost; it looks as if it will run about $30/month to maintain the water level year round. We're planning on a 1/2 HP fountain in the pond, and estimate that will run another $30/month.

 

[MadDog]

A "deeded water supply" sounds like your right to take water from the spring is something that appears in the record title to whatever neighbor's land the spring is located on.

I am inclined to agree with you that insisting on your rights, now that the neighborhood has been developed, is not going to create neighborly feelings. On the other hand, your water rights, if they appear as an encumbrance on your neighbor's title, are something that can adversely affect the value of his land when he goes to resell it. Maybe you can get SOME benefit out of the situation by telling him that you don't want to insist on your rights and are willing to release the encumbrance on his property. If you aren't asking him to pay you for doing that, he ought to be pretty appreciative.

Regarding the shallow well, I sank three shallow wells (by driven points, rather than digging a pit and lining with a culvert) about 10 years ago. They have been inconsistent performers and I am going to have a deep water well driven to supply the pond that I am currently excavating, as well as to supply irrigation to vegetable fields.

 

[JimMorrissey]

Don,

Nice pond. Good info on montly costs.

Thanks.

 

[JimMorrissey]

Our last well in rural VT was over 1,000 feet deep in order to provide enough water for our family. I was not happy when I got the bill, as you can imagine. Once you go that deep everything changes...pumps, wire, pipe....$$$$$

This area has pretty good flows (I checked the well logs) @ about 200 feet. If we need to we'll just drill a well.

 

[frank_f15]

i was wondering the same thing? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[JimMorrissey]

Mad,

Yeah, we most definitely have the right to "repair and replace" the old pond, dam and pipeline back to our property. I think the neighbors property has (or should have) wording to the "penstock and pipeline" that the Davis farm (our old house) and all future parties have access to, including the right to repair and replace the dam. They'd likely come after us with torches and pitch forks some evening if we tried to exercise the water rights.

I see some dollars to be made by threatening them with the encumbrance. Kidding /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[JimMorrissey]

Did you read my reply. Yes, I made a mistake. The math still works out. Lenght x width x average depth x 7.5 equal gallons. The total gallons was a typo.