Not how I wanted to start off the new year.

His well is 300 feet deep. It will take years for today's rain to perk down and raise the level of the aquifer.
It depends on the recharge area. My aquifer will normally see a difference of water level within a few months of what the rain is doing.
 
Yikes! Sorry to hear that. Sounds like there isn't a cheap way out of that situation. After dealing with flooding I do want to move to a desert, but very worried about obtaining (or not obtaining) water.



OK, can he continue to drill your well to 400 feet? If so, that's $10K if I understand correctly. Or what am I missing?

There is some inexpensive mountain (really just a very big hill) land in TN near a small airport. I was considering purchase. By luck, I found out the area had been extensively mined during and after the civil war. Due to the mining, the local aquifer is either gone or massively contaminated, and no amount of drilling gets safe water. Not doing that.

In any case, I wish you the very best in your quest for water!
The offroad park we go to in PA is the same story. They messed up the aquifer from mining and it's waste land.
 
Looking at the responses from the drillers' that have returned Chris's calls, I did some very hasty research on what it takes to be licensed to be a well driller. Here is a statical chart from Texas well driller testing. First line shows a 50 percent give or take pass/ fail rate:


well driller.jpg
 
Th
Yikes! Sorry to hear that. Sounds like there isn't a cheap way out of that situation. After dealing with flooding I do want to move to a desert, but very worried about obtaining (or not obtaining) water.




The offroad park we go to in PA is the same story. They messed up the aquifer from mining and it's waste land.
There is a huge aquifer under us. If you move to the desert drill deeper than you think you will need. The drillers here recommend 100 ft past the water table. When my well was drilled in 1965 they hit water @257 and only drilled to 299. All that was needed back then I guess. It's worked 57 years almost to the day.
 
I don't understand why they will not deepen the existing well. It is done routinely in my area.
 
That's nuts. It cost $5400 to drill mine in 1965
My cost was $5./ft. plus 20' casing/pump/tank/other supplies and labor. I probably got a little break on the pump/supplies and labor since my next door neighbor was a plumber and helped me with the pump installation.

I'm in KY now and am on the county water system where the water costs me about $15./1K gallon. I have my own septic system. When I lived in NC I was about 1/2 a mile from being able to hook onto city water and was told I could hook up to it if I'd pay for running 1/2 mile of pipe. I figured it would be cheaper to drill the well.
 
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I don't understand why they will not deepen the existing well. It is done routinely in my area.
The way it was explained to me is that when they drilled my well it was cable drilled. Not a rotary like they use today.

A cable drilled well is often shaped like a banana vs a rotary is straight like if you drilled a hole through a piece of wood.

Also throw in earthquakes and my casing zigs and zags.

A rotary can't make those bends and will get stuck and jammed in an old well here.

If it can find a guy with an old cable drill he could possibly deepen it. But being in California those trucks are not emissions compliant as well as being over 50 years old.

You can hear the old 2 stroke Detroit diesel running this one. Those engines were banned 30+ years ago here.

 
The way it was explained to me is that when they drilled my well it was cable drilled. Not a rotary like they use today.

A cable drilled well is often shaped like a banana vs a rotary is straight like if you drilled a hole through a piece of wood.

Also throw in earthquakes and my casing zigs and zags.

A rotary can't make those bends and will get stuck and jammed in an old well here.

If it can find a guy with an old cable drill he could possibly deepen it. But being in California those trucks are not emissions compliant as well as being over 50 years old.

You can hear the old 2 stroke Detroit diesel running this one. Those engines were banned 30+ years ago here.


Ok. That makes complete sense.
 
Nothing too good to report. The water level has gone up a few inches in my well but not enough to do any good. Not sure what I'm going to do yet. I don't have the $$$ available to redrill a new well.

Can't take on any other bills right now anyway. Our plan is to pay off my wife's FJ cruiser and that will free up $300 a month. Still have another year or so on it's payments.

If this goes as planned I will be driving my 2002 jeep till I due as it's paid off and we can't afford another car payment.
 
Nothing too good to report. The water level has gone up a few inches in my well but not enough to do any good. Not sure what I'm going to do yet. I don't have the $$$ available to redrill a new well.

Can't take on any other bills right now anyway. Our plan is to pay off my wife's FJ cruiser and that will free up $300 a month. Still have another year or so on it's payments.

If this goes as planned I will be driving my 2002 jeep till I due as it's paid off and we can't afford another car payment.

Can you get a home equity loan for the well?
 
Very sorry to hear about this stuggle Chris142.
It's difficult to know there's water down there, just out of financial reach at the moment.
Are there any local or regional assistance programs out there in your area?
Or, are any of the drillers able to put you on a payment program rather than pay all at once?
 
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