New well needs to be set up/Feedback needed please

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by GOG, Jun 25, 2019.


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  1. GOG

    GOG Free American Monkey

    Hi folks,
    I have a capped off well that I need to set up and put in service. It seems the going rate is around $5,000. to do the work.
    That seems crazy expensive to me, but...

    The well is 300 feet deep and only puts out 1.5 to 2.5 GPM, but I have an 1100gal. storage tank. Currently we drink spring water from the mountain across the creek that comes via a pipeline, but every Winter something freezes or breaks. It's a huge PITA and it's a steep climb.

    I want to put a valve at the tank so there's options for water sources and a path through some heavy brush must be cleared from the well to the tank.
    It needs plumbed & wired and I figure I'll pay somebody to hack a path through to the house.

    So, I'm a handy guy, but electrical isn't my thing and I do plumbing only out of necessity. I'm out of my depth, but I'm game to try new stuff.

    And if there's a member in my general area who does this work, I'd love to give them the job.

    So, any thoughts, comments or suggestions?
    And thank you in advance.
     
    Zimmy, Gator 45/70 and Motomom34 like this.
  2. SB21

    SB21 Monkey+++

    I'm not in your area , and am no expert in either electrical or plumbing ,,but it's really not that hard . I'll bet we could walk you through it over the net here . Are you putting in a submersible pump ? Is the well drilled already ? Find someone to come out and trench you a ditch . I fixed a guys well about 6 months ago .
    New submersible pump--new check valve--new 36 gal bladder tank--new brass T pipe to tank-- new pressure gauges , new pressure switch-- new shut off valves -- All this was less than 1500 bucks. But sometimes it's best to let someone else do it and let them deal with all the little unforeseen headaches .
     
  3. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    We need a bit more info on what they quoted the $5000 on. You say your well is 300 feet deep but at what foot do you hit water? If it is shallow enough you could use a jet pump instead of a submersible and that would save.
     
    Gator 45/70 and azrancher like this.
  4. azrancher

    azrancher Monkey +++

    If you're a handy guy, you need to learn plumbing and electrical. You need to trench the waterline in below your freeze level, not knowing where you live I can't tell you that. Not knowing how far the well is from the storage tank is another unknown. If it freezes hard where you are, you also need a pitless adapter on your well to come out of the well below the freeze level. Or not knowing any of the above, use a cheap 1/2 hp 2 wire submersible pump from your local Lowes store, hang it on poly pipe to the surface, use heat tape on the above ground part to keep from freezing, run it to the storage tank underground using 3/4" pvc (you don't need bigger, you have a low flow well) you will need a Pumptec type current monitoring device to shut off the pump when it runs outta water, and it will with 2.5 GPM. The pumptec will need to be located at the well since you need power out there for the heat tape. Or build a well house around the well, and keep it above freezing using a couple of light bulbs for heat....

    So start with getting a friend to trench in a ditch below what the freeze level, install the water pipe and wire (which I would also install in PVC due to critters). And report back with the well report which is probably recorded with the state.

    Rancher for all well/pump related questions you can go to my site pumpsandtanks.com
     
  5. GOG

    GOG Free American Monkey

    Thank you. I've done household plumbing, but nothing like this.
    My neighbor has good local contacts and he uses the guys that want five grand.
    So, more research...
     
  6. duane

    duane Monkey+++

    My well is 250 or so feet deep with static water level of about 20 feet, and flow rate of over 20 gal a minute, well about 150 feet away is 600 feet, static level 100 feet down, and 2 gal minute after hydrofracting. He uses a big tank and a timer, pumps well every so many minutes until tank is full, with protection on pumping dry too, and the 1,000 gal tank is not pressurized but turns off pump when full. He then uses a bladder and booster pump for water pressure in house and it works out OK until he has a party or some other high water use and the big tank goes dry. I run a garden hose to his house for his garden and lawn, etc, and he furnishes us with eggs, so it all works out. Chickens eat all the greenhouse scraps and give beautiful eggs.
     
  7. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    My well bore is supposedly 750 feet deep. The pump is downhole and is at 515 (measured when the pump was changed out.) Water level at that time was at 140, in March, and varies seasonally (of course.) We have been unable to find out who and when the bore was drilled, but it was well over 20 years ago (the township apparently did not retain the permits that were required at the time, whenever that was.) The pump is a 1 hp, 220 v single phase and delivers (roughly) 2 gpm into a 50 psi system pressure tank. In these parts, these days, drilling goes for 8 frn the foot in rock plus mobilization of the drill.

    Recharge will be heavily influenced by the geology in your area, mine is slow due to low permeability of the rock, which explains the depth of the pump relative to the free surface level.

    This area does not require casing below the loose top "soil" (really gravel with a thin veneer of stuff sorta similar to topsoil that the weeds grow on) the rock is quite competent. Sandy soils are an entirely different pot of bouillabaisse, casing and sand points are apt to be mandatory. Bear in mind that the bore MUST be deeper than the pump elevation so that the "stuff" that falls in has a place to go without entering the pump suction.

    That is a sample of the type of information you are going to need to get the well back in service if it hasn't been cased or caved in. If the records are unavailable, you might canvass the local drillers, one of them may have the data. For geology, your best bet is the local drillers, and maybe the county ag office can come up with geological data that will help in the system rehab and rebuild. Check with the local fire officials to find out what the recommended depth of bury is for fire piping that is required for freeze prevention, and do that at least for the well to tank, and do your best to figure out a way to freeze protect the tank. If there is freezing in your area, as rancher says, the only way to fly is with a pitless adaptor (a good idea in any case, it gets the delivery pipe below grade and eliminates the need for heat tape at the well head.)

    The electrical and plumbing bits of the job are not quite trivial, but not at all complex once the control scheme is decided on.
     
    GOG and SB21 like this.
  8. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    are they dropping a submersible with the the pipe and electrical 300 ft ?

    Typically your well is drilled deeper than the pumping area and the pump (if you are using a submersible) is dropped down to a level just above the bottom of the well. (The location depends on if the bottom of the well is sand or basalt but it has to be below the waterline so that when the pump pumps water and draws down the water level it doesn't expose the pump) The pump guy has to test for all of that to know where to place to pump and for how to tell it how long to run. So they have to check the draw down levels while the pump is running. It's a process.

    Do you know where your water level is vs your well depth? $5k does seem a bit steep for a 300ft well but every area is different and alot of it has to do with soil composition and set up and how far they have to drop the pump and pipe
     
  9. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    And a whole lot more, often enough. I have 515 feet of flexible pipe and cable downhole.
     
    Ganado likes this.
  10. GOG

    GOG Free American Monkey

    The well is 300ft. deep, but that's all I know. It was drilled by the sellers as a condition of sale, so I should be able to find some kind of data.

    All I was concerned with at the time was flow rate & arsenic content.

    We live at the base of a mountain at about 1,000ft. elevation. The soil is thin topsoil and Oregon clay over bedrock. In heavy rain the hillside weeps water. It's actually beautiful to see, but not such a good thing in reality.
     
    Ganado likes this.
  11. azrancher

    azrancher Monkey +++

    Try this to see if you can locate your well records.
    Well Report Query

    Rancher
     
  12. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    Nice find @azrancher @GOG your property deed will have the Section township and range on it to help you narrow down the search, or in OR it may be called a 'Bargain of Sale'
     
    GOG likes this.
  13. GOG

    GOG Free American Monkey

    I've got a guy coming out next week to take a look and give me a bid. If he's reasonable I'm going to hire him. He's not just local, he's in the neighborhood so we'll see. I like to keep the money I spend as local as possible and that's pretty local.

    I have way too many other things going on right now, it's easier to let a pro handle it.
    I'm in the middle of a major interior renovation and I'm seriously thinking about selling and moving to a free state.
     
    Ganado likes this.
  14. azrancher

    azrancher Monkey +++

    Just remember prostitutes are pro's too.

    Rancher
     
    GOG likes this.
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