Water well & drought?

[wjoerob]

I'm thinking of switching from city water, and having a well drilled. Neighbor's results of wells are a mixed bag around here. But I'm wondering about the effects of the drought we've had here in central Indiana this summer (driest summer since the '60's.). I know surface water is different from lower level water, but could it have an effect?

 

[bp fick]

I'm thinking of switching from city water, and having a well drilled. Neighbor's results of wells are a mixed bag around here. But I'm wondering about the effects of the drought we've had here in central Indiana this summer (driest summer since the '60's.). I know surface water is different from lower level water, but could it have an effect?

Most municipalities won't give you the choice, legally.

Droughts should not effect water levels down deeper.
By deeper, I mean in excess of 60'. Do you have water at 25' or similar, normally? That is defined as a shallow well and usually, the water at that level is seldom safe to drink, but could be if run through an RO.

 

[whistlepig]

I'm thinking of switching from city water, and having a well drilled. Neighbor's results of wells are a mixed bag around here. But I'm wondering about the effects of the drought we've had here in central Indiana this summer (driest summer since the '60's.). I know surface water is different from lower level water, but could it have an effect?

We have lived here a little over three years with our well. Well water is our only option. I think it mostly depends how close the neighbors are drawing water from the same water table. Our next door neighbor has watered 100 head of dairy cattle for thirty years from his well and never had it run dry. We're pretty rural here and so far the drought hasn't hurt us. Wells can be unpredictable. Good ones that never run dry and wells drilled a mile away that dry up frequently.

 

[Kays Supply]

Are you on city sewer? That would have an impact on the city letting you go to a well. They use the water flow to determine sewer fees. In Illinois it is code that if you have access to city sewer you must connect.

 

[wedge40]

I rented an old house in Bloomington about 18 years ago and it still had well water, even though they could have tapped into the city supply if they wanted. There it was pretty expensive to use the well water, and a ton of up-keep. They had a water softener that ran every other day and still hard water stains everywhere. Can't tell you how many cloths and appliances I ruined because of the hard water. So before making the plunge, I'd have the water tested.

Wedge

 

[mmurphy]

I wish you could have had some of our rain this past summer!
If your well is drilled shallow into a unconfined aquifer, drought in your area will have some effect one way or another.
If your well is in a confined aquifer, your area will not effect it as much as quite a bit north of you would have. (Or what ever the inpermeable layers of ground run in your area.)
Here in central Iowa, alot of unconfined well water can be influenced as far as Canada. So, probably the same for your area.
Well drillers in your area probably would have a lot of information they would share with you on your aquifiers.

 

[300UGUY]

I rented an old house in Bloomington about 18 years ago and it still had well water, even though they could have tapped into the city supply if they wanted. There it was pretty expensive to use the well water, and a ton of up-keep. They had a water softener that ran every other day and still hard water stains everywhere. Can't tell you how many cloths and appliances I ruined because of the hard water. So before making the plunge, I'd have the water tested.

Wedge

In addition, having a well drilled isn't cheap. My neighbor just had a new well put in, and she shopped around, getting several bids. She ended up paying $4500 for the well. That would pay for about 10 years of city water here, but it isn't availible this far out.

 

[300UGUY]

Most municipalities won't give you the choice, legally.

Droughts should not effect water levels down deeper.
By deeper, I mean in excess of 60'. Do you have water at 25' or similar, normally? That is defined as a shallow well and usually, the water at that level is seldom safe to drink, but could be if run through an RO.

Most wells in this part of Michigan are going 160 - 200 ft deep. My neighbor had a well, a hand driven point well, that was 42 ft deep. The water just nasty, no way could you drink it. After the point plugged up, she had a new well put in. 200 ft deep, real nice water now. She doesn't even need a softener now.

 

[RickB]

"Here" you can't legally drill a well in an area with a public water supply. Commercial well drilling outfits are fully aware of this.

The notion that drought conditions will not affect a drilled well's output is fantasy in most areas.

 

[merrickvilleguy]

we're lucky here, we have a pond in our back yard about 150 yards from the well, the surface of the water is 3' below the top of the well, so it is a good indicator of water in the area. Our sump pit is also 20 yards from the well and 2 yards below surface, the soil in it is always damp. We're just over 1 1/2 miles from a large river. We have yet to have problems, but, its always a good idea to keep an ear out to the neighbours in the drier times.