uninvited project

[hayden]

We got up to our place in vermont last night to find we had no water. This morning I removed the well cover and sure enough the waterlevel is about a foot below the pick up.

So, I spent the day digging in various spots looking for water. I pretty uniformly hit ledge at about 4-6 feet. I finally found a spot that might work but it will involve digging a 400-500 foot trench to extend the water line. It's already about 800' 'cause the well is gravity feed and the distance was required to get the needed pressure. The god news is that the additional 400-500 feet will gain me another 10 PSI or so.

Glad I got the backhoe.

 

[Rowski]

Where abouts is your place in VT. It's been really dry here, north central VT. Spring has been low but haven't run out yet, if anything it may have come up a few inches. I was down past Rutland (Mount Holly) and the grass is very green. Around St. Albans, Burlington grass are very crispy. But cool morning temps with heavy dews help the grass and flower, etc. But the dew doesn't do anything for the ground water. Nice to have the tools when needed. Would it be possible to feed your new location to your existing spring. Do you have a spring or a well? Hope this is only a temporary water problem. Best of luck.

Derek

 

[hayden]

It's in Tunbridge. Everyone's out of water, and the place I bought well tiles from said he can't make them fast enough.

The original well is dug and sits on a spring. It's only 4 feet deep and the pickup is about 1 foot off the bottom. There's a spring fed marsh further up the hill that feeds a stream (which is dry for the first time that I can recall). I dig one hole by the marsh yesterday and today it was full of water. Today I dug another hole 25' back from the marsh for the well, and set 3 well tiles. There was about a foot of water when I left. Next weekend I'll back fill around it with crushed stone and start trenching for the pipe.

Right now I'm thinking that I'll tie into the water line from the original well, but place shutoffs for each well so I can select which one to use. If I just tie the two pipes together without shutoffs, the upper well will just flood the lower well, and I won't get to take advantage of the increased pressure from the higher well. I'm also concerned that in the winter the flooded well will freeze and crack the tiles since the water will be at the surface.

 

[Rowski]

Went to VTC just over the hill in Randolph. Nice area. Sounds like your setup will work well. Calling for some rain later today. Got just under an inch of rain the other day. Best of luck.


Derek

 

[hayden]

It's finally done. 7 full days of tractor work, a damaged backhoe, and a few hundred dollars in parts later, but I have water again. The extra height of the new well gives me about 10 PSI more water pressure (it was only about 15PSI before) so that's a nice added benefit.

The biggest hassle was getting the water line primed with enough water so it would siphon water up from the well. I ended up getting a small marine demand water pump with pressure switch. After hooking it up to the water line inlet I let it pump up the line with water (and a bunch of air initially), then left it on while I went down to the bottom and ran the water to bleed out the air and get a good flow of water. The pump at the top just kept filling the pipe back up for me while I was down at the bottom letting out the air.

You just don't appreciate running water until you don't have it.

 

[Boondox]

Peter -- We're having the same problem here in Lamoille County. Spring 1/4 mile up the hill dried up completely. We have a cutout below our big pond about 200 yards from the house so we have the option of tapping the pond if the spring goes dry. Unfortunately, with the pond down three feet and green with algae, we didn't want to use that water in the house. The water heater, in particular, doesn't care for organic material. So we tapped into the smaller pond normally reserved for the veggie garden. It's about 300 yards and 70' uphill, so the water enters the house with considerable force. Better yet, since the pond is shaded by trees, there is very little algae in it.

We actually have three springhouses on the hill. Unfortunately our ancestors abandoned each in turn as it went dry. I would have preferred your approach; dig a new one but leave the old, and tap them all into a common trunk with ball valves isolating each branch. The water system in the farmhouse itself is well thought out. Spring water feeds into a 400 gallon cistern in the basement. A shallow well pump sends it to a pressure tank, and from there to a central manifold, with ball valves connected to PEX runs leading to every water fixture in the house. I can isolate any leak anywhere in the house from that manifold. Can also run the washer and dishwasher with no impact on anyone in the shower. In case of power loss the cistern can be bypassed and the house can go on gravity feed. Couple that with wood heat and we were very ready for Y2K. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

If I ever get a backhoe you know what I'll be doing with my summer vacation!!!

Pete

www.GatewayToVermont.com

 

[hayden]

Your springs went dry and didn't come back? I'm starting to panic.

Peter

 

[Boondox]

Well, rain is required to bring a spring back to life. We've only had .6 inches since the beginning of July. pb

www.GatewayToVermont.com

 

[hayden]

But they did come back after the rain returned, right? I'm not expecting anything until then, but I am assuming there has been no fundamental change in the ground water flow such that the spring will revive itself once there is rain.

 

[GlueGuy]

Well, our place used to get water from a spring until the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Went dry almost immediately after that. Previous owner drilled a well (about a 1/4 mile closer to the house), and that's what we use today.

So I guess rain is one determinant, and geology can be another.

The GlueGuy