Well casing material question

[rlee6]

I posted this question at CountryByNet. I hope to get your opinions.

I am getting a new deep well. I have a choice between PVC and galvanized steel, 4" dia. I live in central Florida and freezing is not quite a concern. Thanks. By the way, PVC is $700 cheaper, $3500 vs. $4200.

 

[Farwell]

I have a 5 1/2 inch PVC casing 122 foot well and am very happy with it. Many of the wells in Michigan are going to PVC, not sure why other than cost.
Freezing is not a problem because the line running from the well to the house is below the frost line.
Farwell

 

[Egon]

Think I'd go for the pvc if it meets specifications for your application.

 

[Defective]

PVC will not decay in the ground.

Steel will rust. Galvanize won't even slow it down much. For that matter, zinc (galvanizing) is toxic. It's generally fairly safe as it takes a long time to disolve, but metal poisoning is a cumulative thing.

 

[kmdigital]

Definitely go with PVC. No one, and I mean no one in the midwest has used steel in over 25 years that I know of.

 

[SteelDust]

Huh, must be a regional thing. In my search for property I must have looked at hundereds, if not thousands, of well logs online. Not once did I see anything but steel casings used.

 

[Syncro]

I posted this question at CountryByNet. I hope to get your opinions.

I am getting a new deep well. I have a choice between PVC and galvanized steel, 4" dia. I live in central Florida and freezing is not quite a concern. Thanks. By the way, PVC is $700 cheaper, $3500 vs. $4200.

For what its worth, I'm having a new 180' well sunk next week and it will be 6" PVC, but the top 20' will be steel so the casing that sticks out of the ground will be the stronger steel. They tell me PVC eliminates rust and holds up well, the down side is that it cannot be deepened should the need ever arrise in the future. In my case thats moot as the well will be artesian. The other down side of PVC is that its light sensitive, I was told to be sure the casing has not been left out in the sun for long periods of storage (years I guess).

 

[bugstruck]

Most here were steel until say 8 years ago. For me...I just like the feel of cold steel It's a hundred year solution and you can't crack it very easily.

 

[Onthesauk]

I'm with Steeldust, we just don't see a lot of PVC out here, but a lot fewer of our wells are deep. I just had a 48 foot well drilled a week ago, pump guy recommended a couple of driller, told me to pass on one of them because he uses PVC. Have no idea what the significance of that is.

 

[CurlyDave]

My house in CA was originallty built in 1928. When I do various projects outside, I come across pieces of the original galvanized water line and gas line that have been burried for 78 years.

The galvanized pipes are very corroded on the outside.

I would go with PCV.

 

[bugstruck]

Dave, Steel well casing should make 100 years. I'd have already cracked a PVC well case in a less than observant "Loader" moment. Steel, just scratched. Cracked (grouted) well casing can't be a fun repair, regardless the material. 100 years in the sun for PVC can't be a good thing either. I'll put my money on the steel.

EDIT. There are other arguments for steel. Sub surface stress cracking and Biofouling on the inside of the casing being two. Both are documented as worse with PVC than with steel. That stress cracking is in locations with no sunlight too.

 

[turnkey4099]

I would not want any PVC sticking out of the ground. It deteriorates in the sun and is easily damaged if hit. I am surprised that any well driller would do it that way, I suspect, as someone else said, that they use PVC to near the top and then steel.

I watched both mine and my neighbors wells drilled. After drilling the _hammered- the casing in. PVC would not take that.

Harry K

 

[bigballer]

yup, WA state drillers use mostly steel casing, my well was just finished this weekend - 140ft of 6" dia steel. I talked to the driller about this and he said if they hit basalt and have to drill through it they would line with PVC otherwise steel was used all the way. they didn't encounter any basalt or other bedrock on mine, mostly sand and silt. Here in WA drillers have to at least use steel on the first 18 feet for the surface seal/benonite but after that it's up to the owner if they want to put in steel or PVC. I opted for the steel because if the water table ever drops and i need to have them come back to go deeper, they can basically start where they left off and go further.

cheers,
bigballer

 

[CurlyDave]

Let me expand a bit.

The well we just drilled in Oregon was finished with both a steel casing and a PVC liner.

After drilling, they drove 75' of 6" diameter steel casing (not galvanized), which was about all they could drive, and then inserted 720' of 4" PVC into the casing which went nearly to the bottom of the drilled hole.

All of the wells are finished like this. There is about 2' of the steel casing sticking up out of the ground, and the PVC is inside it.

 

[bugstruck]

Dave, I like what you describe on your well. Sounds like a smart approach, combining the two. Also, your not fracturing the PVC while driving it in that way. Around here the PVC casing is always exposed at the well head. That's my biggest objection to how we do it back east. All PVC is the cheapest method though. You guys on the west coast seem to build for more durability than we do here. Guess the shifting ground or other influences force some thought and better engineering.

 

[dfkrug]

Our wells around here in CA are cased with PVC as far as I know.
Mine sure was. There is also an iron bacteria problem in this
area, which can completely clog up a well with a black sludgey
material. As I recall, my well was drilled 8 3/4" and lined with
6" schedule 40 PVC, with a concrete sanitary seal in the top
50 feet.

 

[Willy Victor]

My well in sw lower Mi. is 88 ft. deep and is 4in. galvanized. That seems to be the norm in my area.

Willy