well drilling time

[tommu56]

I'm near Seligman, about 50 miles west of Ash Fork.

The fee is for drilling only. No pump is included.

I am still researching options on pumps. They could go from 4 to 8K. I don't really care about pumping at a high volume. I will have 3 or 4 tanks (2500 gal each) for it to fill at a leisurely rate, and then I will draw from the tanks.

I would prefer a solar pump.

If you can live with the lower flow the grundfus sqflex series will run off ad and dc. if you are going to run it off grid (like me) they are one of the few with a low inrush starting current.

tom

 

[StanR]

They just finished my well...
hit good water 323 ft
1.5 hp pump cost was a bit ok $8K

It was very nice seeing this.

 

[Pettrix]

They just finished my well...
hit good water 323 ft
1.5 hp pump cost was a bit ok $8K

It was very nice seeing this.

Your well depth is the same as my well depth (300 - 350 foot range). I was quoted $10K for the drilling, casing, pump and the complete install.

Water is life, without it, you can't live. In Arizona, land value has a lot to do with location and with that location is water access and water depth. A lot of Northern AZ areas have to haul water due to the depth being 1,000 - 3,000 + feet.

At the same time, I would not want a very shallow water table (under 100 feet) because in a seismic zone, when your water table is that shallow, you can experience liquefaction. It is a phenomenon that is caused by earthquake shaking. The wet sand can become liquid-like when strongly shaken. The liquefied sand may flow and the ground may move and crack, causing very serious damage to surface structures and underground utilities.

There areas in Northern AZ that "boasted" a shallow water table (under 90 feet) but those areas are in a Seismic Category C & D. In a quake those areas would experience liquefaction and your home could literally collapse into the ground. No thanks, I will pass on that.

 

[BoFuller]

I know that the payback period is unreal. Financially it makes way more sense to haul water. We have a water trailer and have hauled water for a little while, but I'm looking down the road when the SHTF and there is no electricity for a period of time, which means there is no fuel. I want a well with solar power so I can continue to have water.
For the well, $23,000!
For peace of mind that I will have water, priceless!

 

[MossflowerWoods]

I am very interested in this discussion!

But my reasons are different. My water table is fairly shallow, I believe my well is only 28' deep. But I need another well up top closer to the horses and the area where someday I will build another house.

So I want a well with a solar pump so I can water the horses for now.

Great thread Bo!

I agree with your logic. The likelyhood of SHTF is higher and higher every day and it is my job as steward for my family to think about that stuff and plan for it.

Be well all,
David

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Just curious.. What sort of pump horse power do you need to push water up 1000 feet

Brian

The design of the pump is more important than the horsepower. High pressure pumps have multiple stages, one impeller feeding the next feeding the next feeding the next feeding the next.

1000 feet is a long way to push electricity. For domestic use, a submersible would probably work, but for irrigation a turbine might be more practical. The pump sits at the bottom of the well, and the motor sits on the well head, with a drive shaft running from motor to pump. It's a tricky, expensive installation, but it's also the only way to run a 40 hp pump in a 1000' deep well or to run a pump with natural gas or diesel.

 

[Pettrix]

I know that the payback period is unreal. Financially it makes way more sense to haul water. We have a water trailer and have hauled water for a little while, but I'm looking down the road when the SHTF and there is no electricity for a period of time, which means there is no fuel. I want a well with solar power so I can continue to have water.
For the well, $23,000!
For peace of mind that I will have water, priceless!

Did you call Dell Rio for pricing?

Do they make a solar pump strong enough to pump 1,000 feet? From what I heard, most solar pumps must be shallow (50-150 feet) to work properly.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Did you call Dell Rio for pricing?

Do they make a solar pump strong enough to pump 1,000 feet? From what I heard, most solar pumps must be shallow (50-150 feet) to work properly.

You can do anything that you may want or need with solar, but very easy to get up there in the $'s. I've read before where some guy spent upwards of 300k.

 

[BoFuller]

Did you call Dell Rio for pricing?

Del Rio, Barbie, and Brown are the 3 companies I have contacted. All real close in price. I'm having a hard time deciding.

 

[BoFuller]

Great thread Bo!

I agree with your logic. The likelyhood of SHTF is higher and higher every day and it is my job as steward for my family to think about that stuff and plan for it.

Be well all,
David

Totally agree. There is a senator (can't remember his name right now) that has quite the self-sustaining compound located somewhere in Virginia. I saw a video interview with him not long ago. Very motivating!

 

[Pettrix]

Del Rio, Barbie, and Brown are the 3 companies I have contacted. All real close in price. I'm having a hard time deciding.

Del Rio is the biggest and has done more wells than any other company out in that area. Not to say the others are bad but Del Rio is the biggest.

 

[BoFuller]

Del Rio is the biggest and has done more wells than any other company out in that area. Not to say the others are bad but Del Rio is the biggest.

Just got my quote from Del Rio - 40K including pump. THat's about twice what I was hoping for.

 

[Boeing]

Bo, watching your post with interest. I have 70 acres mountain top in western (not west) Virginia. 4 drillers all say 700-900 ft. Neighbor just did 893'.
The drilling is about $10 a foot, the casing is $12 a foot then they talk about "packing" concreteing around the upper casing etc. All total about $20,000....with NO PUMP.
I have had several pump suggestions....depends on water LEVEL. I checked on WINDMILLS, they max out about 150'. 1000' requires a HEAVY gauge wire to run a pump. One driller mentioned a "3 phase pump". I will not have 3 phase electricity but he said that there is a "gizmo" that converts single phase to 3 phase that could make "normal" electricity run a three phase pump.
I've looked into SOLAR to power my building and "future" house. There is no electricity now and they will not bring it in until I file a building permit AND have footers in place. It appears that SOLAR is VERY expensive, large panels, multiple batteries, inverters etc....
If anyone knows of a more affordable way to get water up a 900' well please let me know.
Thanks.......good luck Bo, keep us posted. Rob:thumbsup:

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Bo, watching your post with interest. I have 70 acres mountain top in western (not west) Virginia. 4 drillers all say 700-900 ft. Neighbor just did 893'.
The drilling is about $10 a foot, the casing is $12 a foot then they talk about "packing" concreteing around the upper casing etc. All total about $20,000....with NO PUMP.
I have had several pump suggestions....depends on water LEVEL. I checked on WINDMILLS, they max out about 150'. 1000' requires a HEAVY gauge wire to run a pump. One driller mentioned a "3 phase pump". I will not have 3 phase electricity but he said that there is a "gizmo" that converts single phase to 3 phase that could make "normal" electricity run a three phase pump.
I've looked into SOLAR to power my building and "future" house. There is no electricity now and they will not bring it in until I file a building permit AND have footers in place. It appears that SOLAR is VERY expensive, large panels, multiple batteries, inverters etc....
If anyone knows of a more affordable way to get water up a 900' well please let me know.
Thanks.......good luck Bo, keep us posted. Rob:thumbsup:

Don't know who told you that windmills were only good for 150', but they're nuts. That would be a 6 or 8 footer. A 16' windmill will pull water from over 1000 feet deep.

 

[coreshot]

Looks like drillers are cheaper everywhere but where I'm at. I have had my driller cards ready for a couple years, but have been trying to save up to have it drilled. I'm looking at about $52/foot here in Utah. Thats everything but the pump, and I have some options there...Neighbors on either side of me drilled right at 300 feet, so with a little luck, mine will be in that range also.

Last year, I put in a 1550 gallon tank 70 vertical feet above my cabin site, so my hopes are to use a Grundfos SQ solar pump to keep pushing water into the tank. We only weekend there for the foreseeable future, so the pump will be able to push water even when I'm not there...

My cards only give me until June 2013 to drill, so I gotta get on it...

 

[BoFuller]

Don't know who told you that windmills were only good for 150', but they're nuts. That would be a 6 or 8 footer. A 16' windmill will pull water from over 1000 feet deep.

I checked with a windmill company and they said a windmill could do it. Like mentioned, it needed to be a 16 footer. If you go the new route, you're talking almost 20,000 for the windmill and another 20,000 for a 40 ft tower. Yikes!

 

[BoFuller]

Actually I have changed my mind. I had a contractor visiting my site to talk about the foundation for my home and he said he gets all his water from rain (& snow) harvesting. I knew that was ideal for a state like Washington where you get 100 inches a year, but I had no idea you could do it in AZ. He has a family of 4 and has gotten by for the 6 years he has lived there.
So I am switching gears and going for multiple cisterns to store water runoff from the house and from my garage. I'm even going to bury a cistern at the end of my 200 ft runoff ditch that I am going to make to keep rain and snowmelt from running downhill onto my build site. That one will be for irrigation purposes.
So I won't be posting any results about drilling in the near future.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I checked with a windmill company and they said a windmill could do it. Like mentioned, it needed to be a 16 footer. If you go the new route, you're talking almost 20,000 for the windmill and another 20,000 for a 40 ft tower. Yikes!

Don't know what your site conditions are and that may be the reason for that high of a price, but if you want to cut those costs, you need to talk to someone else. 40k is way out of line for just the mill and tower.

Breezy Windmill & Equipment Company

 

[BoFuller]

Don't know what your site conditions are and that may be the reason for that high of a price, but if you want to cut those costs, you need to talk to someone else. 40k is way out of line for just the mill and tower.

Breezy Windmill & Equipment Company

You may have a point. I didn't do a lot of research, but it ws the Aeromotor Company that I called. Anyway, even if it is only $10,000, it is still too high for me because of the 28,000 cost of just the drilling. For that price I can bury ten 2500 gallon tanks and have enough water for even a 2-3 year drought.

 

[Jimbrown]

One of my neighbors is catching run off water. He has 9 or 10 ,2000 gallon plastic tanks that catch all the water off of his house. It only takes one or two good rains to fill them up.

He only uses it for irrigation and animals cause we got water here at about 350ft. But he sure has all he wants for other uses.

We both pump with solar pumps. Grundflos into storage tanks with 12v pressure pumps pumping into regular baldder tanks.

My well has been all solar for 10 years. Most of the well guys around here have stopped selling wind mills and just go solar. It is much simpler and less costly.