[Jim in NC]

We finally got the driller to daughter's home yesterday. His experience in the area indicated that he would have to go down about 200 feet.

At 75 feet, he hit sandrock. That was a bit surprising to me since there is an outcropping of sandrock at the surface on the other side of the field beside the house. The soil all the way to the rock was as dry as dust.

He hit granite at 120 feet, and that is the depth of the casing. He finally hit water at 225 feet, and proceeded down to 280 feet. It is supposed to be plumbed today,
and the old well filled, but a heavy washing rain may scuttle his plans.

His estimate is it is producing 8 gallons per minute. That is about half of what mine, dug 4 years ago by the same driller, is producing. He is gonna put in a bigger pump than planned because of the depth of the well.

Here's a few pics. Ron, I like yalls' way a lot better.

 

[bettyp]

Jim ,glad you got your well dug for your daughter . so you got a gully washing.

 

[Bob Kline]

Had the local driller put in a much larger pump in our well @ the county parks property (the show grounds for S.C.R.A.P.) as in past years we have had several local farmers bring their tanker trucks as we just couldn't pump enough, fast enough, to keep our water wagons running constantly for "dust control". This being "drought condition" year we will need to soak the drives constantly to keep ahead of the "dust".
This pump is rated for "80" g.p.m., so it should fill the 1000 gallon water wagons in 13 minutes. Has a 2 inch line from pump.
Other years it took so long to fill from well that when the water wagon went back out you didn't even see where we had just watered. Best time to water was after dark & then soak the drives well to keep dust down till about noon when the sun evaporated what was applied.
This new pump wasn't "cheap" but the club worked it out with the driller to pay his pump price & we would give him free advertising in our show book for the next 10 years, "the old barter system" & we have a large sign on the well stating he is the driller that supplied our well drilling needs.
Lots of folks around here have had wells go dry this year & the driller has been overly busy drilling new ones. Average water wells here run = very shallow @ 26 feet, some @ 40/45 feet, most @ 75/100 feet. Mine is 75 feet as are most near me.

 

[BigDaveinKY]

I'm real close to doing the same thing. Or hooking to the county water line that runs 800' from the house across my property.
A few days after the rain last week the water in my 100+ year old, fifteen feet deep, hand dug, rock lined well started getting murky.
My guess is that as the water table is rising it's washing the dust off the rocks that line the well, or some rocks at the bottom have shifted,
and the water is leaching dirt straight into the well. Either way I've been buying drinking water from the store the past week.
I've always had well water. If anyone has gone from well to local water system, does the amount off the electric bill offset the monthly water bill??
The only pro I can think of for county water is when the electric is out you still have running water. I'm not real thrilled on the added chemicals in pulic water.
My cost will be close to the same for either drilling or hook up.

 

[Guest]

Well Jim (pun intended) it only took less than 15 seconds for us to hit water, was yours about the same :roll: :roll: :lol: Glad ya got it done Sir.

 

[Bob Kline]

Jim & others: Do the drillers now use plastic casing? Around here, that's what is required now, steel is what mine is, it was drilled (rotary) in 1967 & up to that time most were "stomper" drilled. When I went looking for a well driller that spring I contacted the real close driller who had a stomper rig & he said "no way" can I get your well in in the next several months, so I found a driller a bit farther away that had put down wells near me with his rotary & told him that the well needed completed in a few weeks when basement was being dug. He showed up within 3 days & completed everything in 3 more days, while the stomper driller said it would take him a week to 10 days to drill 75 feet.
Now a well can be (rotary) drilled in a few hours & pump set & running water in a day. Rigs have sure changed in 50 years time.

 

[Jim in NC]

I'm real close to doing the same thing. Or hooking to the county water line that runs 800' from the house across my property.
A few days after the rain last week the water in my 100+ year old, fifteen feet deep, hand dug, rock lined well started getting murky.
My guess is that as the water table is rising it's washing the dust off the rocks that line the well, or some rocks at the bottom have shifted,
and the water is leaching dirt straight into the well. Either way I've been buying drinking water from the store the past week.
I've always had well water. If anyone has gone from well to local water system, does the amount off the electric bill offset the monthly water bill??
The only pro I can think of for county water is when the electric is out you still have running water. I'm not real thrilled on the added chemicals in pulic water.
My cost will be close to the same for either drilling or hook up.

Dave, my guess is that water bill here would average $30 to $40 per month with at least yearly increases. You can pump a lot of better tasting water from a well for that kind of money.

 

[Jim in NC]

Well Jim (pun intended) it only took less than 15 seconds for us to hit water, was yours about the same :roll: :roll: :lol: Glad ya got it done Sir.

Ron, it took a good 5 to 6 hours to hit water, then another couple to finish, pull rods, bit out of the well, and pack on rig, clean out around casing, and concrete it down 20 feet.

 

[Jim in NC]

Jim & others: Do the drillers now use plastic casing? Around here, that's what is required now, steel is what mine is, it was drilled (rotary) in 1967 & up to that time most were "stomper" drilled. When I went looking for a well driller that spring I contacted the real close driller who had a stomper rig & he said "no way" can I get your well in in the next several months, so I found a driller a bit farther away that had put down wells near me with his rotary & told him that the well needed completed in a few weeks when basement was being dug. He showed up within 3 days & completed everything in 3 more days, while the stomper driller said it would take him a week to 10 days to drill 75 feet.

Now a well can be (rotary) drilled in a few hours & pump set & running water in a day. Rigs have sure changed in 50 years time.

Yep Bob, very heavy ABS pipe especially for well casing is used.

 

[BruceG34]

I can pump my well just about 24/7 for a month for about $200
no telling what that much county water would cost.

 

[Stephenscity]

Now that looks more like what I'm use to!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[missouri massey man]

Now that looks more like what I'm use to!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yessir, Mike....guys like Ron with water so close to the ground are sure spoiled, ain't they...? Jim, glad to see your daughter is taken care of. The thick wall pipe is a heavier 'schedule'. Here, the well drillers used to use schedule 40 steel, since the mid '80's they all use schedule 80 pvc.

 

[Jim in NC]

Wendell, I get the pipe confused. I think I mentioned ABS before, but that is not right. The switch was made here from steel to pvc many years ago.

 

[missouri massey man]

Wendell, I get the pipe confused. I think I mentioned ABS before, but that is not right. The switch was made here from steel to pvc many years ago.

Aw, Jim don't take my word for it, there's so many abbreviations for everything nowadays you'd think they'd all be used up by now..... :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Guest]

America has forgotten how to spell so as long as you have an ancronym - - your good to go.

 

[Stephenscity]

An acro what????????????? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[BigDaveinKY]

Dave, my guess is that water bill here would average $30 to $40 per month with at least yearly increases. You can pump a lot of better tasting water from a well for that kind of money.

I can pump my well just about 24/7 for a month for about $200
no telling what that much county water would cost.

That pretty much settles it. Along with the chemical smell and taste all public water systems have. :?
I've got a high school buddy, who bought his uncles drilling business. He and I worked together, for his uncle, a bit for gas and car parts money in high school, in our "spare time."
We both helped on the family farms together too. Kindda drifted apart after high school. I'll give him a call and see what he can do. It'll be good to talk with him again.

 

[Guest]

That pretty much settles it. Along with the chemical smell and taste all public water systems have. :?
I've got a high school buddy, who bought his uncles drilling business. He and I worked together, for his uncle, a bit for gas and car parts money in high school, in our "spare time."
We both helped on the family farms together too. Kindda drifted apart after high school. I'll give him a call and see what he can do. It'll be good to talk with him again.

Best of luck to ya Sir

 

[Jim in NC]

Big Dave, I kinda value havin' my own reliable water souce like I do our ability to grow and produce much of our food. It's work, and an expense, but it produces more freedom not to have to depend upon gubbermint as much. As you said, one doesn't have to deal with the chemical additives too. The chemicals ight not be good for watering the veggie plot :!: :shock: :?

 

[Jim in NC]

I now know that in addition to mowing hay, a method to encourage rainfall is to drill a well. We had about 5 inches of rain last week. Much of it ran off, but there is some moisture in the ground at least for another few days. :roll: