Well question

[Andrew1972]

Mortar or concrete over the holes.

If you decide that you really want to use it simple chip it out. I am 99% sure the day will never come.

Make sure the cover has great integrity and does not get buried. You don't want someone falling init.

 

[MasterSolenoid]

So, you have determined it's not part of your Septic System.

I would take some measurements and find out exactly what you have going on.
1) Diameter & Depth tells you how much water it holds
2) What is the refill time ?

Health concerns: Contact the Health Dept. and ask them if there is concern of any containments getting into your current Well.
That is if you removed the Cover and left it open with a structure around it.
Maybe find what direction the ground water flows ?

 

[Andrew1972]

Originally Posted by Donald
Another possibility is a drywell. Back in the 1960s my Dad had a dry well installed and the drain water from the washing machine was pushed into the dry well. Not the septic.


Drywells are typically a pipe running into rocks. They typically have no access unless someone had some concrete skill or precise pieces sitting about.

 

[loneryder]

That's pretty close to your regular well. They may be drawing water from the same underground source. Think about that.

 

[LeakySeals]

What is the diameter? The concrete caps that are put on wells should be relatively small. They only go down a couple of feet. They use a similar one on septic tanks but no way it could be that you would smell it

 

[Earls1st]

If you are OK with being on the state dept of health's radar, call them for advice. I did not read the original post to understand if a local municipality has jurisidiction, but I've known one to require you fill your existing well after annexation or have a meter installed on the well so they could charge you for the storm or other drain capacity you presumably use.

If critters are falling in, dying and decomposing and the aquifer is common with your other well, a water test from the well in use would show bacteria or elevated nitrate presence. The water in the pit would likely be OK for watering a lawn, you just need a filter than would exclude hair and other detritus so your sprinkler system does not plug.

The dug well on the farm where I grew up had a normal-sized casing in the bottom - the larger excavation was maybe twenty feet deep. Our dug well was at risk of being undermined to a much larger diameter than the apparent hole and as such, potential for a caving event existed. Once my mother had grandchildren wandering the place, the casing was capped and the pit filled by a professional.

 

[supton]

Cap is 44" across. Bit hot right now so I don't know if I want to mess with moving the lid--maybe later tonight.

Hadn't thought about gray water off the gutters. But I don't think the gutters were ever plumbed into it, or they were removed.

Bugs not so bad right now, so took a better photo.

Pump is in the basement, and now that I look, I wonder if it was added some time after the foundation was poured? That'd be odd I'd think--maybe they poured around a large pipe, then, once the black tubing was run, filled it in. Dunno.

Yes, the white pipe is snapped off. I haven't dared touch it yet, as the rest of the piping is live!

 

[doitmyself]

They might have poured the basement walls with the preplanned specification for an access hole to run that black pipe in from the "drywell" to the basement pump that will be used for lawn and garden irrigation.

As mentioned above, drywells are designed to allow excess water to soak into the ground.

Quote
OP: It appears to plumbed to an indoor pump & tank and was plumbed to the outdoor spigots,


Maybe what you have here is a cistern. The holes under the cap might simply be overflow? Maybe your sump pump empties into this? Some more investigation will lead you to an answer. Original site plan?

 

[supton]

Cistern would be interesting... could be. Would this complicate matters: if you measure out about 6 feet or so from the cover, and down maybe 6', you would find a small stream. It's a bit stagnant right now, but it flows real good in spring, and I suspect after most rains. This well is built right into the bank.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted by loneryder
That's pretty close to your regular well. They may be drawing water from the same underground source. Think about that.


The deep well is probably 200' down and this is max of 20'.

 

[John_Conrad]

to me it's likely an old dug well that has been modernized at some point with pump and concrete casing. likely it is less than 30 feet deep and from the sounds of small stream nearby, it's likely shallower.

 

[John_Conrad]

could also be a water cistern with well, this is interesting. i learned about it here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well

about mid way down the page to the pictures.

 

[Nick1994]

I'd take the lid off and use mortar to fill in the holes on the sides.

Then get some big steel handles and 1/2" bolts and drill holes and bolt the handles to the lid to make it easier to slide around if needed.

 

[mk378]

This really looks like a simple shallow well and jet pump. Unscrew the broken CPVC adapter from the side of the tee on top of the pump. Screw in a hose bibb / boiler drain etc and attach a garden hose leading outside. Initially leave the faucet closed. Unscrew the gauge from the top and pour water in until it is full then replace gauge. Turn on the power crack the faucet open and see what happens.

 

[eljefino]

My house is remarkably similar.

I built a 4x4 foot "patio" out of heavy pressure treated 2x6 to cover the hole and ensure kids etc don't wind down there. Have plenty of dead mice decaying. The smell is about a 3/10.

20-ish feet away is my domestic well, with a (suction) jet pump, that runs on 120V, and runs on my generator. Sweet!

We had the water tested, found bacteria, so put in a UV sterilizer. Haven't tested again.

Do consider one, may keep the digestive issues down on sensitive people in your household, and it doesn't ruin the flavor of the water (which is awesome at my house.)

I had a dry well for the kitchen greywater. Got rid of it when we remodelled the kitchen. Kinda sad to see it go, vs putting more of a load on the septic. Wasn't causing anyone any problems. My house is 100 years old so some stuff predates permits or modern practices.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Originally Posted by Gebo
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
...

You could be a chipmunk-like animal in 50 years.

but more likely on On Planet Zorkan., not Earth.

The Universe is too vast for us to comprehend in our low, animal minds.

Reincarnation is the only thing that makes sense for us.

Conservation of matter and energy.

Be Well !

- Ken



ARCOgraphite, I am gonna get a new body one day but it won't
be an animal. And there will be a new earth. And reincarnation
makes no sense to me. You must be reading a different book
than I am.

No Book being read. Just my thoughts over the well more more than 1/2 century I've been alive.
Science and personal Beliefs stirred in a pot.

Remember you ARE and Animal now.
Though Humans tend to try to ignore that fact. We think we are special.

But Who knows what I will be thinking next year; I may have another, true Epiphany

 

[LeakySeals]

In the picture I see a pressure tank that has been disconnected and being used as a perch for a shallow well jet pump. I can't see the hose poking through the concrete where does it go? Does it go like this?

 

[supton]

Yes, the line goes up to the pump like that.

 

[LeakySeals]

Ok. I'm assuming it's shut off with a valve before the jet pump. Next is determining what pumps the water to the house before the jet pump. What's Down in the Hole?. There should be a line you can pull out if you take the cover off. Then you would know what the next step is. Is that higher or lower than your house?

 

[mk378]

Originally Posted by LeakySeals
pressure tank that has been disconnected and being used as a perch for a shallow well jet pump.

No that's a tank / pump assembly. There is a pipe from the top of the tank to the bottom of the pump. Since the entire pump casing is on the outlet side, the tank will store water pumped by the pump.