mud pump for 100 feet dug wells quotation

On average, drilling a water well costs$3,500–$15,000, depending on several geological and technological factors. You may be able to dig a shallow well yourself, but it’s best to hire a professional contractor for a well that will provide water for an entire home. This guide outlines the well installation process and its costs.

The deeper you need to dig, drill, or drive, the longer the job will take and the more labor it will require. Most residential wells need to be at least 50 feet deep and have an average depth of 300 feet, but how far you need to drill to hit water depends on geographic factors. Accessing state and local geological surveys and learning about existing wells in your area will give you a better idea of the depth you’ll need. The table below includes price ranges for various depths.

Shallow, residential water wells are the least expensive to dig or drill. Sand point wells, which are shallow and can be driven by hand or machine, are similarly inexpensive but don’t usually provide a home’s entire water needs. Geothermal wells are relatively inexpensive on their own, but installing one costs tens of thousands of dollars.

Artesian wells that drill into an aquifer are more costly to drill but less expensive to run. Irrigation wells are the most expensive because they handle the highest volume of water, though residential irrigation is much less pricey than commercial irrigation.

Digging is the least expensive way to create a well, but it’s limited to about 100 feet in depth. Digging can also be thwarted by highly compacted or rocky soil. You can create a shallow well of up to 50 feet by driving a small-diameter pipe into the ground and removing the soil from inside. However, most residential-scale well projects require a drill to excavate.

Well-casing pipe supports and protects the well’s walls, so it needs to be sturdy. This pipe is typically made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), the most affordable option ($6–$10 per linear foot). Galvanized or stainless steel casing is also available for a premium ($30–$130 per foot). Steel may be necessary for earthquake-prone areas, as it’s much less susceptible to cracking and breaking. Casing pipe costs $630–$2,400 depending on its length.

Most wells need electrical wiring to operate the pump and pressure switch. These components aren’t expensive ($50–$150), but a licensed electrician needs to install them, costing $150–$500.

Some people assume that well water is cleaner than municipal water, but municipal water goes through a strict treatment process that water from private wells doesn’t. If you’re using a well for drinking water or other residential applications, you’ll need a purification system to rid the water of contaminants before you can use it. Whole-home water treatment systems cost $500–$3,000, plus another $200–$400 for installation.

Once the water is brought to the surface and purified, it needs to be stored and pressurized so you can use it in your home. A 2-gallon water tank can cost as little as $100, but if you’re going to use well water for most of your needs, you’ll probably need a large pressure tank that costs between $1,400 and $2,400.

One of the most critical parts of the well system is thewater pump, which brings groundwater to the surface. A hand pump for a shallow well can cost as little as $150–$500, but most electronic pumps cost between $300 and $2,000, depending on how powerful they are. A shallow well can sometimes use an aboveground surface pump, but a deep well usually requires a powerful, more expensive submersible pump that sits below the water line and pushes the water up. Some artesian wells can get away without using a pump system since the groundwater is already under pressure and may be pushed to the surface naturally.

Your location determines your climate, water table depth, and type and condition of the bedrock. It will also affect labor costs. For example, Florida is a relatively inexpensive place to dig a well because it has a high water table and an average cost of living. The price is higher in desert states like California, Texas, and Arizona.

You’ll need to check with your state and local government about permits for any project that involves digging in the ground. Permits can cost anywhere from $5 to $500 depending on where you live, but a well drilling company can help you determine which ones you need.

Before drinking water from your well, you’ll want to test its quality to make sure it’s safe. Do-it-yourself (DIY) water testing kitsare available for $50–$150, but if this is going to be your home’s primary water supply, you should hire a pro. This can cost between $100 and $500, but it’s well worth checking for the presence of viruses, bacteria, fungi, heavy metals, radon, pesticides, and other contaminants.

One benefit of installing your own well is that you’ll no longer need to pay municipal water bills. You’ll only need to pay for the electricity to operate the pump (about $3–$4 per month), plus maintenance costs of $100–$250 per year. Compared to a monthly utility bill of $20–$40, you can save up to $500 a year.

Well installation professionals have the tools and experience to drill plus install the casing, pump, well cap, and other hardware. They also know how to adjust the process if they encounter anything unexpected under the soil and can help you apply for permits. You’ll pay at least $1,500 in labor costs on top of the well equipment and may pay $10,000 or more for deep wells in poor soil conditions.

Digging or driving a shallow well in an area with a high water table is within the capability of dedicated DIYers. However, you must ensure you go deep enough to get to truly clean water beneath the contaminated runoff in the upper layers of soil. These shallow, driven wells also provide a limited water supply. You can rent a drill rig for $600–$800 per day for larger, deeper wells, but this will only give you the borehole; you’ll also have to install all the hardware yourself.

Wells require maintenance and occasionally require repair. Here are signs that you may need a professional well company to do an assessment. You may only have to pay a service fee if yourhome warranty covers well pumpsor well systems.

Drilled or dug wells can last as long as the walls hold up, but the equipment that runs them usually needs to be replaced every 20–30 years. The pump may fail, or the casing pipe may develop leaks. Replacements can cost up to $10,000 in materials and labor. You can extend your equipment’s lifespan by performing regular checks and maintenance or by hiring a well company to do these for you.

It’s also possible for a well to run dry. This isn’t likely or always permanent since aquifers and other sources may need time to fill back up. A well may fill with sediment over time, which will need to be pumped and cleaned out. In rare cases, you may need to dig deeper or find a different fracture to regain water flow.

It’s widely claimed that having a functional well will raise your property value, but there’s no data on how much of a return on investment (ROI) you can expect. The consensus is that a well that yields drinking water will add more value than an irrigation well, but a nonfunctional or contaminated well will be a liability. Wells are generally more valuable in rural areas or where people want to live off the grid.

Research your yard’s soil and the depth you’ll need to drill before purchasing a DIY well drilling kit. Just because the kit can go 100 feet into the ground doesn’t mean you’ll hit clean water.

It’s important to acknowledge that many DIY well drilling kits are sold within the “doomsday prepper” market. These kits are unlikely to be sufficient if you intend to use your well to fulfill most or all of your residential water needs. You’re better off at least consulting with local professionals who will know about your area’s geological features and water levels before starting the project. These professionals can help you make informed decisions about well installation.

A properly installed well can save you money on your utility bills and provide a private, unmetered water source. Make sure to budget for the drilling of the actual borehole and the equipment needed to pump and store the water, as well as water testing and purification if you intend to drink it. Your system should last for many years once it’s set up.

It can be worth it to install a well, depending on your needs and budget. Drilling a private well is a large investment, but if you live in a rural area or an area with poor water quality, it could increase your property value. Consult with local professionals before beginning to drill or dig.

The average well installation cost is $3,500–$15,000, including drilling and the casing, pump, and storage tank. Price can also depend on the depth of the borehole, ranging between $25 and $65 per foot.

The cost to hook a well up to a home’s plumbing system depends on the machinery used to pump and carry the water. Piping and electrical lines cost $50–$150 per foot, a purification system costs $300–$5,000, and a pressurized storage tank costs $1,400–$2,400.

The time it takes to install a well depends on its depth and the conditions of the soil and bedrock, but drilling can usually be completed in a day or two. Installing the pump system takes another day. After that, it depends on how long and extensive the pipes and electrical system need to be. The whole process should take about a week.

Typically, well pumps can be broken down into two categories: jet pumps and submersible pumps. Each design is built to fit the needs of various well sizes and conditions.

Most shallow well pumps are found in wells that are less than 25 feet deep and in areas with a high water table. These pumps have few running parts and require little maintenance.

This type of pump is located above the ground, typically just inside the well house, and generates high pressure to pull the water from the well and into the home using an inlet pipe. A tank or well booster pump is recommended to accompany this type of well pump to increase water pressure to the home.

Unlike its shallow counterpart, a deep well jet pump is located within the well, though its motor stays in the well house. This pump uses two pipes: one for drawing water out of the well and another for directing the water to the home. Deep well jet pumps are typically used in wells that are 110 feet deep.

A deep well submersible pump sits at the bottom of the well directly in the water. Using its motor, the pump draws water from the bottom and pushes it out of the well into your home’s water lines. These pumps can be used in wells up to 300 feet deep. The pumps work similar to sump pumps, which draw water and pump it out.

Although professional well pump replacement comes with high pump installation costs, you may have no choice but to call a professional depending on the well pump you have. Certain pumps, like deep well submersible pumps, require special equipment to get them out without damaging components or wiring. In addition to the fragility of the well’s components, removing a well pump can be very labor intensive, with some pumps weighing more than 100 pounds.

Even if you’re considering replacing your well pump on your own, call a plumber to confirm that the well pump is the issue with your system before removing it. This will prevent any unneeded work or unintentional damage to your well system.

Use the tool below to find a well service contractor who can diagnose your well pump problem and help you determine whether or not you can replace it yourself:

A water well is any type of excavation created to remove water from an underground aquifer (a geologic formation or series of formations that contain enough water to supply wells and springs). Wells created using traditional digging methods (pick and shovel or backhoe) are typically wide holes only 10"-30" deep. Driven wells are created by driving a small diameter pipe into soft earth (gravel or sand) and are generally 30"-50" deep. The most common method of well construction in the United States today is drilling, which requires a fairly complicated and expensive drill rig, usually mounted on a large truck. Drilled wells are typically 100"-400" deep but can be 1,000" or more. The U.S. Geological Survey provides an overview of types of wells[1] and the Environmental Protections Agency provides a glossary[2] of well-related terms.

Prices for drilling a water well are typically quoted by the foot, and vary significantly depending on the type and difficulty of the material being drilled through (sand, solid rock, clay, etc.).

Drilling the well hole, installing the casing (a tubular lining that prevents the well hole from collapsing) and adding a well cap (a tight-fitting, vermin-proof top seal) typically costs $15-$30per foot, or $1,500-$3,000for a 100" deep well, and $6,000-$12,000for a 400" well. (However, if the geological conditions are especially difficult or access is extremely limited, drilling can cost $30-$50a foot or more.) For example, the sustainable Arizona homesteaders at ByExample.com[3] report paying $6,750to have well drilled 280" deep, or about $24/foot.

A complete water system is typically designed (and a total price quoted) after the well is successfully drilled and the well"s depth and water yield is known. A well pump to bring the water to the surface, a pressurized storage tank or tanks (if the well"s yield is not enough to meet peak demand), underground piping to take the water to the house, electrical wiring to power the system, a control panel and other items can add $2,000-$8,000or more to the total cost, depending on the size of pump and the distance to the house. This brings the typical total for drilling a well and setting up a private water delivery system to $3,500-$20,000or more, but an especially deep and difficult well with a complex water system can cost $20,000-$50,000or more, depending on depth, water yield and system complexity. A great deal depends on local geological conditions. For example, Cushing & Sons Well Drilling[4] in New Hampshire estimates an average cost of $5,000for a complete water well system in that area, while a Colorado landowner[5] reports costs of $14,000to drill a 600" well (about $23-$24/foot) and another $7,000-$8,000for a constant pressure pump system with a 70" water line to the house, or $21,000-$22,000total.

The Kansas Geological Society explains how to evaluate[6] the potential for a water well and a video by the American Groundwater Turst provides an overview of well water systems, including drilling methods.

Search for local water well contractors through the National Ground Water Association[9] . The association also provides a state-by-state list of well-water-related resources, including licensing agencies for geologists, engineers, and contractors; regulatory agencies; groundwater-use summaries; and groundwater-quality reports.

The well driller should provide a written contract listing the work to be done and the specific costs, including potential fees for drilling deeper or drilling a second well if the first must be abandoned. Foster Water Well Drilling in California explains how to hire a water well contractor[10] .

End of the year budgets are tight for everyone, especially in this economy.It"s especially hard for the millions of Americans who depend on government programs like food stamps to help make ends meet.|| Posted November 11 2013

Drill bit sheared off. Contractor said he"d comeback and start over after he finished next job. Kept putting me off. A year later just now getting to State arbitration hearing. I"m getting screwed over by his bond company too. I"ll end up needing to hire an attorney (7k!) and going to court... lots of stress, 2 yrs of my life. I"m disabled, & live alone in remote area of desert because that"s all I can afford. Chambers" business is booming. He wouldn"t have lost a penny by doing the right thing.

Drilled 105" pump at 100" 15gpm. 1 1/2" waterline to house. 6.9ph, 12ppm clear water iron. Tds 15ppm. Typical for Mercer Pa. I did the 258" of 60" deep trench, pvc pipe, 30 gal. Pressure tank, wiring in conduits, Trace sw4024 inverter, solar panels, 1640 ah telco 24vdc battery bank. As of 11/19/18 still going strong! PS: I have a reusable screen pre filter, greensand iron filter, sears 880 water softener and reverse osmosis filter in the kitchen but it is really not needed.

drilled 3000 feet just to find bedrock. found at 3000. water pump at 240 feet, pumps 300 gal per minute. static water 215 feet. pH 6.8, no iron, 6 inch well with 12 inch casing. submerged pump. recovery time about 5 min. TSS a little high, no other issues..clear water

My original well IS 130 feet but the casing has a leak. I didn"t know about a dry well. The drilling company charged $10.00 a foot but was nice enough to settle for the money I had put down. Now, I am looking for another company to repair my existing well as this company I used does not do repairs anymore. I can"t afford another dry well. Do you know some company that is reputable to do repairs?

I just got the price of $1350 to make this existing well work with a submersible 1/2 HP pump. No power, so will leave as a generator hook up. I actually just emailed him back and said it was too much since he gave me a lower hourly maintenance fee for this task when we first met at the site. I wanted a price for two other wells on the property with underground storage and solar set up, but no proposals given for that work.

Does anyone have any numbers that relate to the areas outside North bend up Mettman Creek? Looking at land there. Have no idea what to expect. Contacted the local authorities but have not heard back, yet. I"ve read about water being around 100" down. Don"t know if this is true. ANYONE?

We bought some property with an existing well, so the $7100 is the quote I got for the pump, install, certified flow rate testing and water sample testing. We need this in order to get a building permit.

I have not started yet but I expect to be looking for a well on my property in the Spring. Everybody who commented had useful information. However there was no one commenting who are in the area where I have land. providing a map of areas in question would help even if its not exact. This would be an even greater help for potential buyers of this type of service. I appreciate you are here

The cost of well drilling far exceeded my expectations. Total cost for the well drilling and casing came just under $11000. The pump, pressure tank, etc added up to another $4000. I wish I knew before buying the land it would be so costly. At the very least, the estimates I received prior to drilling were accurate.

We got estimate before work was done. Old well was 180 ft. Based upon a neighbor"s 10 yr old well at 350 ft, we were told our well would be 350 ft, best case. We were advised if it wasn"t 350 ft, it would likely be 500 ft. Very happy with Freese Well Drilling and Brown"s Well and Pump service.

This is a typical quote for a domestic water well right now in the central valley of California, May of 2016. What"s included? Well, 6" PVC casing and pipe, permit ($800.00), 3 Hp pump and installation. Plumbed into existing well electric and bladder pressure tank system and 30 to 50ft of trenching. No problem finding water, on top of the largest aquifer in the state. Soil conditions, sandy loam, no rocks (carrots grown here).

And after dug, they pumped for over one week, still muddy water is coming out. Now they took out pump used other sources to pulled the water out but still muddy.

We provide advice about what to do when things go wrong, how to inspect hand dug wells for safety, safe practices for actually digging a well, and how to address hand dug well sanitation

The world wide popularity of hand dug wells is accounted for by the ease of construction without specialized equipment, the simplicity of water raising equipment (a bucket on a rope has worked for thousands of years), and the ability of the Dug well to hold a large volume of water in storage for times of peak demand.

on hand (the well"s static head) in a hand dug well depends not on the well"s overall depth, but the depth and diameter of the column of water in the well when it is at rest and fully recovered from any draw-down.

of a hand dug well depends on its standby volume or static head, the rate at which water flows into it, and the lift and pumping capacity in gallons per minute or liters per minute of the pump being used.

Depending on the well depth, flow rate, storage capacity, and usage requirements, any of a variety of devices or pumps might be used to draw water from a dug well, including

hand pumps using a lever and piston mechanism to lift water from the well, for the properties of hand pumps and the use of hand pumps to deliver water from any well, drilled or hand-dug,

More commonly hand dug water wells range from about fifteen feet (4.5 meters) in depth, to a practical depth of around 100 feet (30 meters) though 200 foot deep hand dug wells certainly exist.

Watch out: digging a well by hand is quite dangerous, risking collapse on and death to the excavators. Also, in very deep wells, there may be air quality safety hazards. [2]

Dug wells are usually constructed during dry weather when the water level is at its lowest, both for safety (less likely wet soils cause well collapse) and to determine the necessary depth of the Dug well to obtain adequate water supply.

As we show in this sketch at below left, courtesy of Carson Dunlop Associates (found at page bottom, Click to Show or Hide), Usually a hand dug well is less than 20 feet deep.

wells continue into modern use, often with the installation of either an in-building jet pump draw water from the well into the building. We weren"t sure what the little cover in our

Sources for repair parts and installation instructions for hand pumps on dug wells and shallow wells are provided at our reviewers list at the end of this page.

The hazards of hand dug wells include poor sanitation (ground water and surface runoff easily enter the drinking water supply), and cave-ins during construction or injuries to tools dropped into the well during construction.

At HAND DUG WELL PROCEDURE we describe all of the detailed steps in the procedure for constructing a hand-dug well with concrete well rings in Mexico.

But do not begin a well digging project without advice from an expert and do not try digging a well without following these and any other recommended safety measures for well excavation:

The following advice is adapted from The Hand Dug Well [instruction manual,by Henk Holtslag & John deWolf, Foundation Connect International. Links to a copy of that free manual are at our references section [2].

Photo above: this looks like a hand dug well that has an above-ground protecting wall and a cover over the actual well opening (you can just see the red edges of the cover.

If there is a concern for people tossing trash or contaminants into a dug well, a screen or grate may not be enough. The solid iron cover over the dug well shown below is installed at Campo St. Maurizio, Venice, Italy. The domed top sheds rainwater and keeps out tossed or other debris and contaminants.

Dug wells and hand pumps on old water wells are an attractive nuisance, especially to small children. The cover should be secure against entry by children. Photos above: the thin cover over this dug well was easily kicked aside (after we removed the toddler who was found standing atop the well - Ed.)

Watch out:Provide a child-safe heavy, secure cover at ground levelfor dug wells with no above-ground wall or for any below-ground well pit - such as the well shown in our photos just above.

At a Connecticut home in the U.S. our clients, whose family included small children, was worried about lead paint hazards as their foremost concern. We arrived early and had already made a note of a rotting and unsafe cover over a hand-dug well.

As he began jumping up and down, pumping the lever, we ran to him and scooped him off of the well top just before the entire rotting cover fell into the Dug well.

requires that the well be protected from someone falling into the well; a smart abandonment will also protect the dug well from being used as a refuse or chemical dump - doing so risks contaminating the aquifer and is illegal in most jurisdictions.

U.S. EPA, DUG WELLS [PDF], U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, retrieved 2021/05/31 original source: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-11/documents/dugwell.pdf -

AB, TROUBLESHOOTING WATER WELL PROBLEMS [PDF] Alberta Department of Agriculture, retrieved 2022/07/16 original source: https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/ deptdocs.nsf/ba3468a2a8681f69872569d60073fde1/ b235a3f65b62081b87256a5a005f5446/ $FILE/WaterWells_module7.pdf

BC, DUG WELL BEST PRACTICES [PDF] BC, Department of Agriculture, retrieved 2022/07/16 original source: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/ assets/gov/environment/air-land-water/ water/water-wells/best_practices_for_dug_wells.pdf

OXFAM, REPAIRING, CLEANING & DISINFECTING HAND DUG WELLS [PDF] OXFAM-TB6, - retrieved 2022/07/16, original source: https://sswm.info & https://give.oxfamamerica.org/

Oxfam helps communities around the world fix up their wells and learn how to treat their drinking water to avoid water-borne diseases. It’s particularly important during times when people are short on food, due to bad harvests following drought, floods, or any sort of humanitarian emergency.

SCW, DUG WELL RESTORATION [PDF] South Coast Water, Hapshire, U.K., Email contact form at https://www.southcoastwater.co.uk/contact.html - retrieved 2022/07/16, original source: southcoastwater.co.uk/well-restoration.html

We can clean a well even if it is completely filled in with rubble so do not think it will never be a usable well again. All it takes is for us to remove all the rubble and debris, clean and restore the walls and the well will be good to naturally refill with water ready for use again. Please visit our well cleaning page for more information.

www.who.int/water_sanitation_health - retrieved 2022/07/16, original source: https://wedc-knowledge.lboro.ac.uk/resources/e/mn/ 031-Cleaning-and-rehabilitating-hand-dug-wells.pdf

Thank you for an interesting geothermal system design question. I don"t know a solid answer but I suspect you may need to install a small circulating pump to mix the water if you"re diagnosis is correct.

I have a dug well consisting of a 150 gal cistern with (3) 48" well tiles stacked on top of the cistern. It has a deep well pump at the bottom of the cistern. This well is for my pump and dump geothermal system. This being my ejection well and my injection well ~ 100 ft away is 12ft deep.

My theory is the water at the top which can be within a foot of the well cover is cooled by the frost and since it wants to sink because of it"s density there is a constant circulation of cold water dropping down to the pump where it gets picked up and fed into the geothermal system. I"m looking at putting a cover on the top of the cistern to break the circuit. Does this sound feasible.

If your dug well is normally filled with water it would be a surprise but certainly possible for the soil conditions or surrounding geology to change such that the well stops giving water and instead drains it away.

Our place has two hand dug wells on it. At this time one is dry. The other is not, but it has quite a bit of fallen-in lumber from an old cover that collapsed. What is the safest way to retrieve the lumber from the well? Would a grapple hook work or is there something better?

A hand dug well is just that: a large-diameter hole in the ground, dug by hand. There is no "well point" - a well point is used in a driven point well like those shown and discussed at

I have a hand dug well and every year it runs dry between August and October, comes back between November and January. My property is at 800ft elevation. A friend of mine keeps telling me to dig out the well point... how do I do that and what will it do?

Read through some of the dug well cleaning and restoration articles there to see the range of tricks and tips people use for a faster, more-efficient, and safer way to remove crud from the well bottom.

more-sophisticated well cleaning methods are described in procedures for drilled wells where there is less working room. There you"ll see some interesting well cleaning methods using special siphon pump arrangements that pump water down through a suction device that picks up the silt and returns the glop to the ground level through a second pipe.

Watch out: When you"ve got tree root invasion of the dug well sides, as we see in your photo, there are increased risks of both water contamination - surface runoff following tree roots into the well, and of well collapse.

Need to carefully remove 3 feet of silt from 35 feet down, water level is at 21 feet, I got a rough estimate of 65 feet from linking conduit together, air lift wouldn"t seem to work in these ranges. !00 year old well estimate of 65 feet 4 foot diameter, house and old pump house right beside.

Can"t tell if there has been collapse of wall below the root levels of two huge sycamore trees. Ground has subsided and both structures leaning into each other for mutual support. West coast drought has dropped it about 20 feet.

6 people on the property, I have replaced the configuration as seen to shallow well pump but need to return to deep well configuration, any ideas for removing silt and sediment?

Do you have any idea for hand bailers for such a need or a better procedure. I was thinking of a two stage arrangement of two sump pumps. One in the well the end of it"s hose in a bucket with another sump pump to pump it out the rest of the way.

Our nonprofit African Educate has had a hand dug well constructed in rural Uganda for 2 years. The contractor now says the bore hole needs maintenance. Does this seem reasonable?

When a dug well is lined by hand-built masonry, the opening is dug large enough that the finish-opening diameter, when the masonry liner is installed, is the desired dug-well size.

Other than safety precautions appropriate for working in the bottom of a hole (collapse, air, safe entry/exit, not working alone, helpers to lower materials, etc) it"s standard stonemasonry.

My back yard stays saturated year round. I need a system of acquiring the water for use in my home for water only for bathroom, dishes and othe non drinking uses. I need to dig a well and set up system for use. Thank you

Keep in mind that it is just about impossible to assure that water from a dug well is sanitary - free from surface runoff and bacteria - so at the very least you"d want your well water tested, annually or more-often, at the very least for bacteria.

I have a dug well that was dug in 1980 when we purchased the property. Has been great water and very plentiful. Have not ever had a dry well. Started getting some sand in the water lines and 14 months ago cleaned out the well and added pea gravel. The well is 25ft deep.

While cleaning out the well noted some of the tiles are chipping and some sand getting in. Now water line is dirt and sand. Is there someone who can dig out the silt and replace tiles? What/who would I look for? Husband passed 13 yrs ago and unfortunately for me took his wealth of knowledge. Appreciate any info

It is not safe nor durable to use greenboard nor any plasterboard or drywall as the protective surround for a dug well. That material will not endure outdoor exposure to the weather and it also lacks adequate strength to assure a safe barrier.

It is not safe nor durable to use greenboard nor any plasterboard or drywall as the protective surround for a dug well. That material will not endure outdoor exposure to the weather and it also lacks adequate strength to assure a safe barrier.

A lot depends on whether the damage is entirely above ground or whether the sides of the dug well below ground are damaged and to caving in. Obviously above ground is easier to repair on site. Perhaps you can post photos, one per comment, so that we can see the situation there.

I don"t know for sure what"s happening but I suspect that something is temporarily draining the aquifer that is supplying your shallow well. The effect could be weather related, not just dry or wet spells that affect the groundwater level but even more-subtle changes such as in barometric pressure.

At an old well that served for years but now lacks water, we might ask what has changed. Global warming, changes in weather, may lower an aquifer such that the supply to your well is now "on edge" and is more-obviously impacted by barometric pressure or other variables.

We have a 15 ft dug well. We went to bed and the water in the well was almost overflowing. We woke up the next morning and the cut off valve had kicked in because the water level was so low. It rained all night. There was no water being used. The pump never turned on. We had a plumber come in and he said there are no leaks in your lines.

Your pump is working fine. The well still didn"t seem to want to recover. We turned off the breaker and the well recovered to full in two hours. We turned the breaker back on and turned the pump on and for the next two months no water issues.

Well always full to overflowing. Last night went to bed lots of water in well, no water used, this morning we have no water. Pump turned off because water level drained to cut off valve. What is going on? Why is our water disappearing? It is not coming in to the house.

It may be possible to make minor repairs to the surround for your well, but take great care not to enter, nor fall into the well, as obviously that would be fatal.

You should also make some diagnosis of why the existing masonry wall is failing, so that that underlying problem is corrected. Otherwise you"re wasting your effort.

If you post some photos, one per comment, I may be able to offer more specific suggestions. Without knowing the present construction and materials it does not seem useful for me to propose specific repair items or methods. For example, I don"t know if your well surround is made of stone or concrete or concrete block or something else.

MY dug well that has an above-ground protecting wall and a cover over the actual well opening is in my bard yard across a stream no equipment can get to it, the wall is splitting and cracking and falling on the ground can I repair this and how

Water in a hand dug well or even a bored well can freeze, depending on the climate, air temperature, and distance from the surface of the water to the ground surface. It"s not common but can happen, especially in very cold weather and where the well water level is close to the ground surface/.

Then in cold weather that dug well water may freeze. The ice on the dug well water will be of course at the surface; it might be just a skim coat that your character can break through by dropping a heavy bucket down into the well (on a rope of course) to fetch water.

But in prolonged very cold weather the surface water in the dug well could freeze to inches or even more. and in unusual cases might be so thick that people would have to look elsewhere for their water.

So if the top of your well water is just 2 feet below the ground surface in New England, or just four feet below ground surface in Two Harbors Minnesota, in very cold winter weather the well top may freeze solid.

... protect all wells from freezing, mowing, livestock, etc., by enclosing the well within an insulated well house. ... https://efotg.sc.egov.usda.gov/references/public/AL/642_Water_Well.pdf

Forgive me Sharon but it"s not both a spring and a well; If the water source is a spring, perhaps feeding water into a springhouse from which water is pumped to cisterns serving each home, it is, in almost all locations in the world, impossible to guarantee that that water remains potable - free from bacteria or other contaminants, as it"s exposed to surface waters and runoff;

The well I believe could be another 5-6" deeper. this would put us well into the water table and would provide better capacity during dry periods where the water table has dropped. I believe it was only made 15" deep as that was as far as the back hoe could reach when they dug the well.

It may be possible to return a dug well to service but I can"t estimate the cost because I have no idea of the conditions. You need a secure well-structure, a safe well cover, and of course you need water in your well.

I have an abandoned dug water well that was dug many years ago. I wish to get it operative with possibly a hand pump. Can it be done and at what cost?

And though it can be a costly survey, ground penetrating radar has been used for determining the depth to water, as you can read in Johnson 1992. That survey combined use of ground penetrating radar and also measurement of water levels at local ponds in the area of study. That data permitted a map of the water table. But be sure to take a look at the abstract that we quote below.

Hengari, Gideon M., Carlton R. Hall, Tim J. Kozusko, and Charles R. Bostater. "Use of ground penetrating radar for determination of water table depth and subsurface soil characteristics at Kennedy Space Center." In Earth Resources and Environmental Remote Sensing/GIS Applications IV, vol. 8893, p. 889318. International Society for Optics and Photonics, 2013.

Johnson, David G., USE OF GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR FOR WATER-TABLE MAPPING, BREWSTER AND HARWICH, MASSACHUSETTS [PDF] (1992), USGS, U.S. Geological Survey, Water-Resources Investigation Report 90-4086, Prepared In Cooperation With The

Continue reading at HAND DUG WELL PROCEDURE - how to construct a hand dug well or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

HAND DUG WELLS at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

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"Comparison of large and small diameter wells", Natural Resources Management & Environment Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO Corporate Document Repository - Self-Help Wells - see http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5567E/x5567e04.htm

Access Water Energy, PO Box 2061, Moorabbin, VIC 3189, Australia, Tel: 1300 797 758, email: sales@accesswater.com.au Moorabbin Office: Kingston Trade Centre, 100 Cochranes Rd, Moorabbin, VIC 3189

Australian supplier of: Greywater systems, Solar power to grid packages, Edwards solar systems, Vulcan compact solar systems, water & solar system pumps & controls, and a wide rage of above ground & under ground water storage tanks: concrete, steel, plastic, modular, and bladder storage tanks. wners

Typical Shallow Well One Line Jet Pump Installation, Grove Electric, G&G Electric & Plumbing, 1900 NE 78th St., Suite 101, Vancouver WA 98665 www.grovelectric.com - web search -7/15/2010 original source: http://www.groverelectric.com/howto/38_Typical%20Jet%20Pump%20Installation.pdf, [Copy on file as /water/Jet_Pump_Grove_Elect_Jet_Pumps.pdf ] -

This well-focused, up-to-date reference details the current medical uses of antiseptics and disinfectants -- particularly in the control of hospital-acquired infections -- presenting methods for evaluating products to obtain regulatory approval and examining chemical, physical, and microbiological properties as well as the toxicology of the most widely used commercial chemicals.

When Technology Fails, Matthew Stein, Chelsea Green Publisher, 2008,493 pages. ISBN-10: 1933392452 ISBN-13: 978-1933392455, "... how to find and sterilize water in the face of utility failure, as well as practical information for dealing with water-quality issues even when the public tap water is still flowing". Mr. Stein"s website is www.whentechfails.com/

Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, for permission for InspectAPedia to use text excerpts from The Home Reference Book & illustrations from The Illustrated Home. Carson Dunlop Associates" provides extensive home inspection education and report writing material.

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TECHNICAL REFERENCE GUIDE to manufacturer"s model and serial number information for heating and cooling equipment, useful for determining the age of heating boilers, furnaces, water heaters is provided by Carson Dunlop Weldon & Associates

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all about well flow rate, well yield, and water quantity: this article series describes how we measure the amount of well water available and the well flow rate - the water delivery rate ability of various types of drinking water sources like wells, cisterns, dug wells, drilled wells, artesian wells and well and water pump equipment.

Is the well on the property being purchased? You"ll also want to know where the well equipment are located: the pump, pressure control switch, pressure tank, any reservoir tanks, and any water treatment equipment.

hand dug well, driven point well, drilled well, spring, stream, (these water source alternatives have implications for sanitation and water quantity as well as safety)

What we really need to know is the total quantity of water that can be drawn from the well and the quality of that water: is it potable, hard (mineral laden), smelly, dirty, requiring treatment for any aesthetic or health-concern contaminant?

how much water, in gallons or liters, can we draw out of the well before we run out, and how fast can we take it out? We discuss these questions in this document after this introduction.

WELL YIELD, SAFE LIMITS - explains the true volume of water that is available from a given well, the role of the static head, the flow rate, the pumping rate, storage tank reservoirs, and other factors that affect well life and changes in well yield.

See WATER TESTING GUIDE for a guide to selecting the appropriate tests to perform when purchasing or maintaining a property with a private water well.

The answers to this question usually describe the condition of the piping and well pump, not the condition of the well itself, though in some cases deliberate flow restrictors may have been installed at a building which is served by a well that has a very limited water quantity.

Typically for real estate transactions or for evaluating a newly drilled well, the flow rate is measured over a 24 hour period and is referred to as the well yield.

See WELL YIELD DEFINITION for a complete, detailed explanation of the factors that go into a true measurement of the capacity of a well to deliver water.

Watch out: If you are given a well flow rate that was measured over some shorter interval or worse, over some un-specified interval, you cannot be sure how the well will perform in actual use. For example someone may measure a pseudo-well-flow rate by just measuring the well output at the pump for a few minutes, or at a bathtub spigot or an outdoor hose bib.

Because well flow rates for many water wells are not constant but rather may diminish from an initial maximum in gallons per minute to a lower but sustainable flow rate, these short well flow tests can be misleading.

Brief water flow tests may actually just be measuring the rate that the well pump draws water out of the well bore - pumping out of the water reservoir in the well bore itself. This static head pumpout is not the well"s sustainable water delivery capacity.

This sketch, courtesy of Carson Dunlop Associates (found at page bottom, Click to Show or Hide) offers a graphic explanation of well static head. The static head in a well is is not the total amount of water than can be pumped out of the well, it"s just where

We have about 1.5 gallons of water per foot of depth of a well when we"re using a standard residential 6" well casing. Below we show how the volume of a well casing is calculated. If your well casing or dug well or other round well is larger than 6-inches in diameter just adjust the radius or r-figure to equal 1/2 of your well"s diameter in inches.

Based on simple geometry & the formula for the volume of a cylinder: we calculate the area of a cross section, or top, or bottom of the cylinder, then multiply that area by the cylinder"s height.

The height of water column inside the well and available to the pump is less than the total well depth. Except in artesian walls the water column does not extend from the well bottom to the top of the ground.

In this sketch, distance (h) is the height of the "static head" = static head volume - the total volume of water available to the pump when the well has rested and fully-recovered.

The static head volume in a drilled well extends from the very bottom of the pump (since water can"t jump up to the pump) upwards to the highest point that water reaches inside the well casing when the well has rested and reached its normal maximum height.

(c) well bottom clearance: our well pump or foot valve (if the pump is not in the well) was placed 5" off of the well bottom © in the sketch, a distance to avoid drawing mud into the pump

In some circumstances such as deciding how much water to flush out of a pipe for certain water tests, it is useful to know the volume of water required to fill well piping or water piping.

For long runs of well piping there may be a significant volume of water in the piping itself. Using 600" of plastic well piping as an example, we need simply to calculate the volume of a cylinder (the inside of a water pipe) into cubic inches per foot.

Below we are repeating the well casing volume calculation, just changing the diameter or radius number to the inside diameter of the piping, and for h or height we use the length of piping.

Since the "recovery rate" of a well describes the rate at which water runs into the well, a well recovery rate also defines the rate at which water can be pumped out of a well without pumping the well down so far that the pump "runs dry".

over a 24-hour period) run from a fraction of a gallon per minute (a terribly poor well recovery or flow rate) to 3 gallons a minute of water flow (not great but usable) to 5 gallons per minute (just fine for

Watch out: So you could pump water out of a well very fast pumping rate, say at 10 or even 15 gpm. But if the well recovery rate is less than the well pumping rate, you"re going to run out of water.

How soon you run out of water depends on how much water was in the well casing when you started pumping (the static head), and ultimately on the well recovery rate.

That"s about what a well driller does to determine the effective well flow rate when a new well is drilled. Pulling water out of the well (using a variable-rate pump running at a rate set by the well test professional) integrates all of the different rock fissure flow rates into a single quantity of water.

Answer: We can calculate the well flow rate from the reader"s example above, using the formula for the volume of a cylinder and a constant to convert between volume of well water in cubic meters and liters or gallons.

This well water flow rate calculation case provides exactly what we need to calculate the quantity of water in a well from direct measurements of the well diameter, depth, and water depth, presuming that the well, a dug well in this case, is round. We just need the depth of water and the diameter of the cylinder formed by the well.

Then we use the formula for volume of a cylinder - which in turn means we calculate the area of the circle formed by the bottom of the well (or the well"s cross-sectional area) and we just multiply that area by the height (or depth) of the water.

Now we can also obtain the well flow rate - the rate at which water is flowing in to the well - though this will change seasonally as well as change if the well is dug further or other steps are taken that affect well yield.

Actually we can draw water out of a well faster than WFm, because the well pump has available to it the reservoir of water already in the well when it starts pumping - the well"s "static head".

In this case that"s a weak, marginal well flow rate. In the U.S. most building or health departments who must approve a private well water supply when issuing a final certificate of occupancy for new construction want to see 3 to 5 gallons per minute or 3-5 gpm.

While a hand dug (or drilled) water well fills as water flows into it, the well water in-flow rate will slow down and eventually stop. This is true except for artesian wells.

We prefer to simply measure the water in the well at the end of 24 hours and calculate the 24-hour flow rate. When the well is a drilled well rather than a hand-dug well, the well driller may measure the well flow rate by use of a well pump whose output is adjustable.

The well driller measures the well draw down rate in the well opening while the well pump is running, and compares that to the rate at which the pump is removing water from the well.

But a true well flow rate, whether obtained by simple observation or by use of a calibrated pump, should be measured over a 24 hour period, not a shorter interval.

Alternatively the owner might want to watch the well water level increase until the water level has stopped rising in the well. It might take longer than 24 hours for the water in flow to stop.

You could have a great well water flow rate - say 20 gallons per minute - but if it the water will only run at that rate for five minutes before you run out, the well has a very poor water quantity (5 minutes x 20 gpm = 100 gallons of water) and it"s not a satisfactory well.

Well pumps are usually intended to pump water out of a well slowly enough that the pump and well don"t run dry. Some pump systems have fittings that recycle the very last water in the well through the pump, ceasing delivery of it to the building, to protect the pump from overheating.

Watch out: For these reasons, we"ve occasionally found clients dissatisfied with their well after they install a new, more powerful water pump. The owners install a more powerful pump to increase water pressure in the home, but the effect may be also to draw water out of the well faster than ever before, thereby disclosing a marginal well flow rate that they had not understood.

This is why the flow rate at a new well is typically measured over a long period, say 24 hours. If you measure the flow rate at a well for just a few minutes, you can have no idea of the well"s actual ability to deliver water over any sustained time of usage.

The well quantity did not change but suddenly wells along this section of roadway had red silt in their water - it has remained a problem for some home owners in the area.

Permanent water level shifts & Global Warming: Local ground water tables may drop permanently. In some areas of Florida so much water has been pumped from below ground that salt water has begun to intrude into the aquifer. Changing sea levels due to global warming can be expected to affect coastal drinking water wells by raising the level of salty water.

WATER PRESSURE MEASUREMENT - with what force does water exit at a fixture or faucet (dynamic water pressure), or what is the water pressure in a system when no water is being run (static water pressure)

So in 26 minutes your 8 gpm well pump will exhaust the well. There is in my OPINION nothing at all gained by that high capacity well pump; It will run for less than 1/2 hour and then probably needs to be off for at least 3 1/2 hours to let the struggling well recover (at its 1 gpm flow rate).

I don"t know nearly as much about well pumps as your onsite well pump expert. Still it seems to me that it"s probably better for the well and the pump both to pump a little more-slowly and less dramatically.

Watch out: as I argue in this article series, because we know that a well"s flow rate usually will deteriorate over time (mineral clogging, water table dropping, global warming, pumping by neighbors tapped into the same aquifer), when we start out a new well with a really weak water flow rate, you need to be prepared for a reduced well life.

Question 1: is your well driller confident that we"re not actually losing water by having drilled the well so deep down past the point where water flows into the well? I"ve seen that happen before: digging past the water entry point led to water leaking down and out. The installer ended up plugging the over-drilled well bottom to raise it back up.

Donors in Canada, the U.S., and Europe sponsor water projects to keep them affordable for the local villages that contribute a token amount of money plus "sweat equity." We rely on in-country teams that we have trained and equipped to drill wells and repair broken pumps. The teams also train and equip local Well Caretakers, and host Health and Hygiene workshops to enable villagers to prevent water-related diseases.

After the polyphosphate solution is surged into the screen (see Footnote #4), water should be added to the well to drive the solution farther into the formation.

Mechenich Christine & Byron Shaw, DO DEEPER WELLS MEAN BETTER WATER? [PDF] (1996) University of Wisconsin-Madison, Polk County Extension, - retrieved 2022/06/17 original source: https://polk.extension.wisc.edu/files/2010/12/Do-Deeper-Wells-Mean-Better-Water.pdf

@InspectApedia-911, Ah, perhaps my well is an oddity? The well driller hit 3 water fractures at 350", and kept going because they only measured 1 GPM (using blown air). After 350" more feet of drilling in granite, the recommended we stop drilling, as the well logs for the area didn"t support drilling any deeper. They said they found no more water from 350" to 700".

But that 350 ft of water on top of the pump is a question. When the will has been at rest 4 hours or longer, to what height does water actually rise in the borehole?

At 8 gallons a minute that means that you"ll pump that water out in about an hour. What"s your pump doing for the rest of the time? Waiting for Godot.

I"m not sure there"s a real advantage to putting in a high-capacity pump and such a load delivery well and there"s some risk that a control fails and you run the pump dry which of course kills your pump almost immediately.

We have a new well that was just completed - water fractures found at 350", drilled to 700" and found no other water. 1 GPM in 350" of granite (the top 350" was mostly sand), steel-cased to 420" with 6". So we"re buying a cistern for the well pump to pump water in to.

The other provider said that with 350" of water on top of the pump when it starts, limiting that pump to only 1-2 GPM puts a lot of stress on the pump and it will suffer a much short life.

He suggested a 1.5 HP pump that would support 8 GPM initially, and 2 GPM before an automatic shutoff device would detect no water and shut the pump off.

It seems like letting gravity and the pressure help the pump do its job is a good idea, but if pumping the well dry increases the risk of damage to our very limited production well, then I"d rather trade pump life for well life.

Any suggestions on the above? We were planning on the cistern calling for water after 300 gallons or so, so if the well has fully replenished it would have 500 gallons, so in theory it wouldn"t actually run dry.

I suspect you meant 2 GPM or two gallons per minute, that would also be unacceptable (insufficient) for most mortgage lenders and not so nice to live-with.

There"s no free lunch, here; the well driller is in no position to promise you what they"re going to find when drilling into the ground, nor can they keep drilling wells for free. So I"m not sure of an equitable way for you, the homeowner, to avoid that cost.

Your well driller may be expected to know from experience what water they"ve been finding at what depths and at what flow rates for wells in your area, but they can"t guarantee any specific flow rate in advance.

Watch out: in my OPINON, if we force a contractor to guarantee what is basically an unknown, if the contractor is going to agree to do so, she will have no choice but to set a cost to you that can cover the absolute worst case and thus the most-expensive possible case. That higher cost is sometimes, but not usually, necessary.

You haven"t given, and it would be helpful to know, the country and city/province/state of location of the well. You might then also look at the geological and water data for that area.

Also our GPMS was logged as 2 GPMS. Needless to say the water totally cut off after 15 minutes. Now the builder and well drilling company wants us to pay for a whole new well and they can not guarantee that they will not get the same result. We are hoping we have that there can be some resolution that will not cost us!!

Every home needs something; If, for having discovered a probable expense, you abandon a home that you otherwise love in a location you want to be, you may simply move on to another home only to discover that the next one needs still more work or repairs.

However, it is important to have an un-biased and thorough inspection of the home and all of its systems, not just the well; IF the cost of necessary repairs would price the home out of its near term value in the marketplace would one be forced to question the economic sense of "the deal".

For most repairs or home improvements or maintenance chores, you are in control of your money and you decide when to meet each of those needs and costs.

Dan"s 3 D"s: but for things that are Dangerous, Don"t work (and are necessary, like safe electrical power or heat) or are causing rapid costly Damage, the house is in control.

Thank you so much for your response. My Realtor recommended this company. Attached [shown above] is exactly what I received and I cropped out the company’s header.

I am supposed to be buying this home and my due diligence period ends Tuesday. I am in the process of asking for an extension because as I stated I don’t know what to make of this report that I paid over $700 for. Please let me know if this provides any additional details or changes your opinion. To say I’m concerned is an understatement.

Thanks again for all the information. This was not a 24 hour test. Since it is a shared well they had to notify and work with all the other home owners and this was all conducted over one afternoon. At this point I’m trying to decide if I should pay for a new inspector or walk away.

You are right. I would stir up debris. I want to find a way to remove some of the soft sediment at the bottom of the well. I will look for ways to restrict flow w/o hurting the pump. Or I could just pump out 110 gallons a day.

A well yield of 5 gallons per minute of sustained flow (measured over 24 hours or over 5 hours in some standards) is considered by most authorities as adequate for a one family residence.

And another example: home buyers seeking an FHA-mortgage will have to show that their water well yield is between 3 and 5 gpm. "Each home must simultaneously be assured of at least 3 GPM, (5 for proposed construction), over a continuous 5 hour period."

By any of these measures, your well "inspector" ought to have told you that your well"s yield was inadequateand that some significant expense will be involved in providing adequate water supply. Provided that all of the data we have on your well is correct, this case is particularly egregious considering your report that this low-yield 1.75 gpm well is serving 4, potentially 5 homes that could therefore involve having to support 20 people in daily use.

WATER SUPPLY WELL CONSTRUCTION DESCRIPTION for North Carolina [PDF] original source, NC DEQ, https://files.nc.gov/ncdeq/ Water Quality/Aquifer Protection/GPU/WaterWellConstructionFoldout-20100331.pdf

IMO an inspector working for you, not for the realtor, owes you that sort of conclusion, that is, the inspector must tell you what the findings actually mean.

It certainly sounds crazy to have paid $700 for a useless report and for that fee it certainly seems reasonable to me that the inspector should be willing to answer questions.

Attached is exactly what I received and I cropped out the company’s header. I am supposed to be buying this home and my due diligence period ends Tuesday. I am in the process of asking for an extension because as I stated I don’t know what to make of this report that I paid over $700 for.

I am in the process of asking for an extension because as I stated I don’t know what to make of this report that I paid over $700 for. Please let me know if this provides any additional details or changes your opinion.

Start by putting a stop payment on your check or leaving your "well inspector" a message that you will meet her or him in small claims court as s/he is doing nothing to earn the fee charged. Throwing an incomprehensible report over the wall to you is unconscionable and in my opinion worse than worthless as the person got paid for it.

1. 1.75 GPM is not adequate for most purposes, and won"t meet well flow rate minimum requirements of at least some lenders; that can be a hurdle in buying or later selling a property and more-practically it means that at normal usage levels you

The "amperage" readings are not directly useful but are intended, probably, to tell us if the pump is working normally, and in the hands of an expert, can tell us if the pump is moving water or is running dry (under less load, current drops).

If it"s 5.5 feet then your well is practically dry and useless now as you have both a very weak flow rate (of water into the well) and a close to zero reserve of water in the well (5.5 whatevers) when the well is at rest.

Tell me: are you buying this property? If so, who recommended this inspector who, from the report, doesn"t want you know the questionable status of your well bu