New Well

[Mo]

I started looking into rainwater harvesting, I can do it but I have to have the holding tanks and drain system inspected and approved if over 55 gallon barrel size. This just kind of dumbfounds me since I don't have to have anytype of inspection on the cabin, house, garage, etc. except if I have water or septic and that would include self composting, an outhouse, airiated septic, or standard septic. As for water: inspections on well, cistern, holding tanks, harvesting, a pond that is over 11' 11" deep, or a spring.

I can put a house on 20' stilts (made out of 4X4's) overlooking a creek in a hill of shale with the run off diverted under the cabin and shooting into the creek and nobody cares but let me get 60 gallons of diverted water and I am in trouble. (Inspections Lady said "Yes and?


I spoke with my wellman, he has never used a double pipe air lift, and doesn't want to try it.  His drill has an air compresser on it but he can't figure out how the air will get under the finings. He wants to have the fire dept. bring up thier pump truck and blow out the well. They said they would come up and look at the area to see if they can. We'll see on Saturday.

Thanks for your help

[glenn-k]

It works like a vacuum cleaner or dredge.  I assume you are making some water from above - it will all flow down the outside of the large pipe then go inside of it and shoot out the top.  If you don't have a lot of water it will surge then refill then go again, or you may have to shut the air off then turn it on again to get it over the top.  He has to keep it off the bottom a few inches then slowly lower it as it cleans out -- it will suck the bottom clean.

Do you know where the water static level is?  Where it is standing as when just sitting?  Did he have an estimate of how much water he had at 25 feet.  

My offer still stands - I would gladly answer his questions about how to do it.  He can call me or I could call him.  I would need to get more information from him on the specifics of the well and his equipment to be able to help the most.  He could use the knowledge anyway if he hasn't done it before.  

Please keep us posted.

[Mo]

We are going up tomorrow and I will check the water leavel and measure down to the sediment.  He doesn't even want to look at using this method. He is going to meet me up there so I will take all the information with me. Thanks again.

[Mo]

I am back from WV and I hope this makes since.  I tied my plumb bob up to my daughters kite string and let it down the well.  It is lined to 20 feet.  I went to the bottom of the water where the line stopped and pulled the line until it was taught. I made a mark on the line and then rolled it in and measured from the top of the well to the water line 27' then from the water line to the end of the plumb bob 90'. The color of the line changed at 72'. The wellman couldn't come up because of the snow, I sent him the information above but he still doesn't want to try it so he is going to go up and use a bailer(?) to empty out the bottom of the well and then drop down an old pump and finish cleaning it out.  thank you for all the information and help if he doesn't get it cleaned up his way we get to try this way.

[glenn-k]

That makes a lot of sense, Mo.  Static level is 27 feet - 90 to the bottom - probably slurry in the bottom.  A bailer and  pump will likely work.  hopefully he has an oversized test pump to pull more water than you are planning to so it will clean up good.  Double pipe air lift would work for sure and do a much better job.  First surge it would blow a solid pipe of water for about 20 seconds then whatever was coming in would continue to blow out in much smaller quantities but if submergence stayed at 50%, a 125 cfm compressor would produce about 125 gallons per minute - only if the well had that much water to supply though.

Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.  Sounds like you will get something from it anyway.  The pump will produce water even if the single pipe air lift won't as it doesn't lose water to the formation.

[Mo]

A friend just had a well drilled here in NC they had hit water at 120' at 19 gpm, her driller wanted to go on down because that wasn't enough  :-? . So they went down to 380'+-, were they were getting 25 gpm then another 75' for a pocket, total well of 455' . If the pump they put in only pumps 5.5 gpm wouldn't the 19gpm been sufficent? If my thinking is correct then I should be fine if it is off the wall I might need to go back to the driller.

[Amanda_931]

I don't know what the situation on ground water is in North Carolina.  I'd think it might be very like it is here.  Most people find water when they drill a well.  Only have problems with their wells during long dry spells.  Long dry spells I do remember from my childhood in the Sandhills area.  Including the story of the only (he was possibly retarded) person to bring an umbrella to the community "prayer for rain."

And that might be the reason your friends' driller wanted to go down.  Not (just?) that he enjoyed drilling wells.

but if you'd like to read a horror story on the subject, one of my favorite mystery authors, Sarah Andrews, has a book, now out in mass market paperback, on a development in Colorado that is, as predicted, running out of water.  It ain't purty.  

Her mind works quite strangely.  Part of the reason I like her.  

Dead Dry.

Here's her website, opened to that page:

http://www.sarahandrews.net/deaddry.htm

[MountainDon]

I'd agree with Amanda. I think the driller wanted to go deep enough to allow for dry spells and even perhaps the lowering of the water table due to increasing use over time. I'd think one of life's nasty surprises would be having to drill a new one in a few years because the first one didn't go deep enough. It would be interesting to know what the wells in the area have been doing over the past couple decades. Here in NM they've been dropping.

[glenn-k]

That is correct thinking on the pumping quantity and as the others say things can change.  

My well produces 1 gallon per minute and that is still plenty of water for a garden too.  If the pump pumps more water than the well produces you have to put a pump protector on it - that shuts the pump off and times it until the well recovers a bit.  

There are lots of solutions.  The extra cavity for storage is part of the safety net.

[Mo]

A neighbors well is at 100' and has never went low, another has a creek they pump from into  a pond then pumps to a large tank, he does this daily. The others have gone onto city water over the last few years. I do have 2 springs on the property that run all year. I can't just tap into them for our water because they are to close to where the Health dept. wants the septic placed.  Maybe I am lucky enough to hit the top of the spring .  We'll see.