New water well.

Rat407

Rat407

Joined
Dec 13, 2002
Messages
2,529
Location
North Carolina
Had to drill a new well. Our old one was giving us issues. They started out in one spot. Hit a cavity and in the process of putting in the casing, it snapped at a joint and so they had to move to another location a few feet back. Drilling for it they hit probably the same cavity and the area around the rig sank a good 18". So they pulled the rig out and brought in dirt and were able to start back up. Took 5 days to drill this thing but now we have water. Got down to 145' and the pump is down at 60'. Water in the well is up as high as just 17' below the surface. They said it is about 80 to 100 gallons a minute. Now the fun begins for clean up around the well and getting all the dirt set up and grass planted. They hit my irrigation lines on the first attempt. Had to fix those. Thank goodness for slip joints. Made for an easy repair. Luckily they didn't get our internet cable that runs along the irrigation. Wife would not have been happy.

Well pic.jpg
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I remember days like then when I was a teen in WNC. Mother was going nuts when she found sediment in the washing machine. They had to drill deeper and add better filtration at the house. Eventually that added a water softener.
 
alarmguy said:
What does it cost to drill a well like that?
Click to expand...
This one was $9,700, That was just to drill the well. The 6" casing was $4,500. Cost of steel went way up. The kicker was the hook up to the water line and electricity. It was only a short run about 6' total and that was $950 for less then 2hrs of work. I could have done it but wasn't sure how to run the water line and pressure switch, but after seeing how they did it, I was not real happy since it was so easy, but it is what it is.
 
Drilling a well can be a high stress situation. I got "lucky" and the first site was a good one at 225ft. I spent 3 days with a jackhammer pounding out granite to get the water and electric conduit to the house. Could still only get about 18"-20" depth. I had to wrap the conduit in insulation and heavy mil plastic and HOPE it wouldn't freeze when things got really cold. In 18 years coldest we've had is about -10 with a week of temps in the negative. She held! Thank God!

Builder across the street from me first attempt had to stop at 600ft, the max of the rig. He only had 5 gallons per minute with a 6k square home. Not up to code. Had to drill again. Did not go well. Made code but the owners are always complaining of low water pressure.
 
had one drilled about 20 years ago, my spring finally gave up the ghost...back then it cost me just a bit over $5000 including everything, this one is 255 feet down they hit good water at 200 but went 55 feet more as a reserve i would think a well now would run me 10 grand or more, one thing that helped is I know the well drillers, old friends of mine
 
My BIL just had one installed @210 ft. $4500 including pump and piping to the house. FL sand is easy to drill though.

I've heard of people putting in irrigation wells down here by attaching city water to 1" plastic pipe, and just pushing it down about 20 ft. Then removed the hose and your done.
Professionally done ones are different and typically 2" casing.
 
Yeah, pricing depends on area, how they are (cable tool/rotary), depth, type of rock, and the time it takes. Most around here are 125'-250' and cost is usually $10k or so. Just pray they hit water on the first try. ;)
 
JohnnyG said:
My BIL just had one installed @210 ft. $4500 including pump and piping to the house. FL sand is easy to drill though.

I've heard of people putting in irrigation wells down here by attaching city water to 1" plastic pipe, and just pushing it down about 20 ft. Then removed the hose and your done.
Professionally done ones are different and typically 2" casing.
Click to expand...
This was typical of what my father has done and other people as well up on Long Island in the 50s and 60s. Long island composed of sand you just took a well point and an galvanized pipe section after section and forced it down through the sand with water.
You typically went down 20 feet and this well is what you used to irrigate your lawn.

The reason I asked the OP the cost is that I recently spoke to someone that came into a business where I worked, he was the owner of a well drilling company and he told me they typically go down 200 to 300 feet in my area, and there is a layer of such and such of rock to get through at _____feet down.
Anyway I was interested because I thought it would be more economical to use well water for my lawn and garden. City water is expensive runs me close to 200 a month in the summer and many times of the year almost as much as my electric.
We never open our windows and run two separate air-conditioning units that I think are over 5 tons combined and here our water is almost as much money per month for city water.
Anyway I didn’t ask the guy how much it typically cost but the OP just answered my question and it certainly would not be worth it to me at this point in my life, I initially thought if it was a couple thousand dollars I might do it but over 2k .., not.
Again I was thinking 20 or 30 feet not 200 are 300 feet!
 
alarmguy said:
This was typical of what my father has done and other people as well up on Long Island in the 50s and 60s. Long island composed of sand you just took a well point and an galvanized pipe section after section and forced it down through the sand with water.
You typically went down 20 feet and this well is what you used to irrigate your lawn.

The reason I asked the OP the cost is that I recently spoke to someone that came into a business where I worked, he was the owner of a well drilling company and he told me they typically go down 200 to 300 feet in my area, and there is a layer of such and such of rock to get through at _____feet down.
Anyway I was interested because I thought it would be more economical to use well water for my lawn and garden. City water is expensive runs me close to 200 a month in the summer and many times of the year almost as much as my electric.
We never open our windows and run two separate air-conditioning units that I think are over 5 tons combined and here our water is almost as much money per month for city water.
Anyway I didn’t ask the guy how much it typically cost but the OP just answered my question and it certainly would not be worth it to me at this point in my life, I initially thought if it was a couple thousand dollars I might do it but over 2k .., not.
Again I was thinking 20 or 30 feet not 200 are 300 feet!
Click to expand...
This discussion brings something else to mind. Down here we have plenty of municipal sewage systems, but we also have our share (too many) septic systems. But one thing that they do down here, and I'm sure they do it in other places too, is use the TREATED waste water to irrigate highway center dividers, and any community areas that wish to tap in to that (essentially free) water source.
I think it's a great idea. it allows for further microbial action to take place, it further reduces contaminants that may not have been removed by the sewage treatment system, and is generally a huge benefit to the community and the ecosystem. It also prevents nitrates from being produced and introduced into the MANY lakes and rivers and lagoons that we have here. It's obviously not enough to offset the effects of septic systems, but I'm happy to know that there is an ever expanding program to alleviate the load on the surface water sources.

Another of my nephews lives in SC, and has a "grey water" irrigation system. All of the sprinkler heads are a purple color, as are all of the piping systems and heads down here.
 
JohnnyG said:
This discussion brings something else to mind. Down here we have plenty of municipal sewage systems, but we also have our share (too many) septic systems. But one thing that they do down here, and I'm sure they do it in other places too, is use the TREATED waste water to irrigate highway center dividers, and any community areas that wish to tap in to that (essentially free) water source.
I think it's a great idea. it allows for further microbial action to take place, it further reduces contaminants that may not have been removed by the sewage treatment system, and is generally a huge benefit to the community and the ecosystem. It also prevents nitrates from being produced and introduced into the MANY lakes and rivers and lagoons that we have here. It's obviously not enough to offset the effects of septic systems, but I'm happy to know that there is an ever expanding program to alleviate the load on the surface water sources.

Another of my nephews lives in SC, and has a "grey water" irrigation system. All of the sprinkler heads are a purple color, as are all of the piping systems and heads down here.
Click to expand...
Yup, great idea down there in FL.
Decades ago they tried an experiment on Long Island with the same theory in mind. You see Long Island ground water is the drinking water. Problem is so much water is being taken out of the ground the water table is dropping and since its an island, salt water intruding.

So they tried an experiment where much of the treated wastewater was deviated to water recharge basins on Long Island (we have a lot of them for street water drainage.) They found the water they were pumping in from the water treatment plant was cleaner then the shallow ground water below the recharge basins ! Not sure but I know the experiment ended and dont know if anything more ever came of it. Politics and money.

It was a perfect solution. Nothing wrong with septic systems if properly done, what happened on Long Island (Nassau County) was every home had a cesspool, there were no sewers and these were 60 x 100 lots that homes were on. Built in the late 40s, 50,,s early 60s.
That was too little land area for so many homes, so sewers were installed, now the ground water doesnt get recharged and the treated waste water pumped 3 miles out into the ocean last I knew, whatever small lakes their were are pretty much marsh now, it just sucks. Poor planning.
 
Rat407 said:
This one was $9,700, That was just to drill the well. The 6" casing was $4,500. Cost of steel went way up. The kicker was the hook up to the water line and electricity. It was only a short run about 6' total and that was $950 for less then 2hrs of work. I could have done it but wasn't sure how to run the water line and pressure switch, but after seeing how they did it, I was not real happy since it was so easy, but it is what it is.
Click to expand...


How about the pump?
 
contractors can take you to the cleaners $$$ + of course different areas with different living costs effect pricing, BUT if you have the time + talent many things can be a DIY if you dont have deep pockets. i do some plumbing + when girlfriends pressure tank in house was leaking a bit of you tubing saved her a grand with my free labor. tank from home depot as well as new switchgear was under $200 a few years ago + a vid explained all i needed to know. she called a well guy + he said a thousand or so$$$$. i enjoy DIY + know my limits!!! seen a neat vid where a stout guy pulled his pump for replacement saving 2 grand!! take roof work, its hard work + many are afraid of heights so they pay big $$$$$$ because contractors know this!!!! contractors need to make a living + are often necessary depending on your skills or not + your financial wellness!!
 
We had the 400 well in our old NY house fracked. Got it up to 3.5 home. Not great but decent. Was the first time I ever watered the lawn.

In DE I am not sure about how deep the well is but in the summer my irrigation system goes on as needed. Sometimes for several hours.
.
 
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