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Washing machine whisperer
Picture of Appliance Brad
posted
Not entirely unexpected. We have lived at our farm for 23 years now. We have always gotten our water from a 1.5" driven well. About 2 years ago, we had to pull the point and drive a new one as there was a home in the pipe causing an air leak. Over the winter the well went from it's original 6 GPM down to where it could not maintain very much water pressure at all. If you let it recover, it would refill the pressure tank in about a half hour. this had made doing laundry or watering our livestock a very time consuming affair. Last night, it gave out completely, no water. Fortunately our neighbor will let us connect a garden hose to their outside faucet so we can have water until we can get a well driller in. Good news is that there have been 3 wells drilled within a 1/4 mile of us on our road that have been 65' to 145'. Bad news is the estimate is $6,000 for the first 100' Got the money in the bank so while painful it is not crippling. Now ot wait for the well driller. At least now we will have a deep well with a casing and a downwell pump.


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Posts: 11219 | Location: below the palm tree line of Michigan | Registered: September 17, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nullus Anxietas
Picture of ensigmatic
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Have you decided on what kind of well you're putting in, pump specifics, etc.? Because we had our 2 in. jet well upgraded 22 years ago, and just had the pump upgraded this year (didn't need to, but wanted to). I can give you my input, if you're interested.



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
 
Posts: 26009 | Location: S.E. Michigan | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
It's not you,
it's me.
Picture of RAMIUS
posted Hide Post
Serious, but probably stupid question: Can ya fill it back up?
 
Posts: 7016 | Location: Right outside Philly | Registered: September 08, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
^^^^
No. That will not work. There is no resupply of water. I doubt that his well has a crank with a bucket on the end. Will have to drill a deeper well to reach the water table. She explains it better:
 
Posts: 17175 | Location: Stuck at home | Registered: January 02, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nullus Anxietas
Picture of ensigmatic
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by RAMIUS:
Serious, but probably stupid question: Can ya fill it back up?

In a word: No. It sounds like whatever was the source of the water for his well dried up or has been diverted.



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
 
Posts: 26009 | Location: S.E. Michigan | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
The Unmanned Writer
Picture of LS1 GTO
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
quote:
Originally posted by RAMIUS:
Serious, but probably stupid question: Can ya fill it back up?

In a word: No. It sounds like whatever was the source of the water for his well dried up or has been diverted.


Or demand has exceeded supply. Wait 25 - 100 years and the aquifer may be refilled. Wink







Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.



Only in an insane world are the sane considered insane.


The memories of a man in his old age
Are the deeds of a man in his prime


 
Posts: 14020 | Location: It was Lat: 33.xxxx Lon: 44.xxxx now it's CA :( | Registered: March 22, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Washing machine whisperer
Picture of Appliance Brad
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Have you decided on what kind of well you're putting in, pump specifics, etc.? Because we had our 2 in. jet well upgraded 22 years ago, and just had the pump upgraded this year (didn't need to, but wanted to). I can give you my input, if you're interested.


It will be a 5" PVC cased well with a submersible pump rated at 10 GPM. We had plenty of water at 6 GPM so if we get 10 it will be more than great.


__________________________
Writing the next chapter that I've been looking forward to.
 
Posts: 11219 | Location: below the palm tree line of Michigan | Registered: September 17, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Dances With
Tornados
posted Hide Post
^^^^ The Well Whisperer
 
Posts: 11812 | Registered: October 26, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Go Vols!
Picture of Oz_Shadow
posted Hide Post
Had that happen once. New well went in about 100’ deeper. No problems since. Went from an above ground pump to the submerged pump.
 
Posts: 17871 | Location: SE Michigan | Registered: February 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nullus Anxietas
Picture of ensigmatic
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
Had that happen once. New well went in about 100’ deeper. No problems since. Went from an above ground pump to the submerged pump.

Ours gave us a bit more warning than just giving up the ghost out of the clear blue sky.

In our case the old 2 in. jet well's point started failing. Well guy told us "I could try to pull it up and replace it, but that well is thirty years old. In my experience there's a 50/50 chance the attempt to pull it up will fail, than you'll have the cost of a failed repair plus the cost of a new well."

We had a new well driven.

Old well was at 80 feet. New well is at 115 feet.



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
 
Posts: 26009 | Location: S.E. Michigan | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
The Unknown
Stuntman
Picture of bionic218
posted Hide Post
quote:
watering our livestock


Do you have a local SWCD or NRCS office in your area? If the well is used - even sometimes - as the main supply of water for livestock, there may be financial assistance at your local USDA office.

I have seen them covered anywhere from 50-100% in my area as long as there is a legitimate agricultural reason - such as livestock watering source. Even if that same well provides the home with water, we call that an ancillary benefit.

No different than if we install a pond to stop gully erosion, and the landowner ends up putting a dock and a diving board on it. As long as it stops the erosion for the life of the contract (usually ten years) we really don't care about ancillary benefits.

May not be worth the hassle and time loss to design, contract, and implement, much less dealing with the feds, but these programs exist for a reason. It's not like the government is going to spend it on something wise and resourceful if you don't use it. Wink
 
Posts: 10729 | Location: missouri | Registered: October 18, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Not as lean, not as mean,
Still a Marine
Picture of Gibb
posted Hide Post
We had a 5 inch point (I'm still trying to figure that myself... basically it was a 30ft 5 inch driven well casing with a pitless adapter, pulled by a jet pump), and it kept losing prime in the pump.
Finally got to the point of needed replacing, so I checked the neighbors wells and found most were 350-500 feet and 5 to 7 gph. That would have run 15k, so we prepped as best we could.
The well company drilled and an unknown aquifer at 200ft, and while not artesian, it exceeded their 70gph pump. Talk about lucky! Our only issue is its a bit turbulent so we need to add a line filter.

I wish you the best of luck with your well.




I shall respect you until you open your mouth, from that point on, you must earn it yourself.
 
Posts: 3352 | Location: Southern Maine | Registered: February 10, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
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You mean the water doesn’t come from the city water company with a bill attached? Crazy... sorry I’m from the city never had a well, but that sucks you have to drill a new well.
 
Posts: 1298 | Location: Arizona | Registered: January 31, 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Go Vols!
Picture of Oz_Shadow
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
quote:
Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
Had that happen once. New well went in about 100’ deeper. No problems since. Went from an above ground pump to the submerged pump.

Ours gave us a bit more warning than just giving up the ghost out of the clear blue sky.

In our case the old 2 in. jet well's point started failing. Well guy told us "I could try to pull it up and replace it, but that well is thirty years old. In my experience there's a 50/50 chance the attempt to pull it up will fail, than you'll have the cost of a failed repair plus the cost of a new well."

We had a new well driven.

Old well was at 80 feet. New well is at 115 feet.


This was up north at a cabin. It had been getting worse for years. Things like only being able to flush the toilet every 10 minutes.
 
Posts: 17871 | Location: SE Michigan | Registered: February 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nullus Anxietas
Picture of ensigmatic
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Kskelton:
You mean the water doesn’t come from the city water company with a bill attached? Crazy...

Crazy like a fox.

Most of our neighbours are on municipal water. Their lawns have been turning brown. Not ours Smile

When it doesn't rain we expend up to 23,000 gal./week just watering. Can you imagine the water bill?

I had my doubts when I bought this house, but I was telling Mrs. ensigmatic the other day that if we were to move and were looking at two essentially identical houses, and one was on well and septic, that's the one that would win.

Appliance Brad: If you're installing a traditional stop/start pressure-switch system, you might consider popping for a larger expansion tank than will probably be recommended. Less pump cycles = less wear and tear on the pump and some energy savings.



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
 
Posts: 26009 | Location: S.E. Michigan | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
We were pleasantly surprised when we put our well in a our cabin in Cheboygan. Our neighbors all had wells in the 350-400 foot range so that's what I expected. Ours came in at 139. Things don't seem to go my way very often so that was great.


Jim
 
Posts: 1338 | Location: Northern Michigan | Registered: September 08, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
אַרְיֵה
Picture of V-Tail
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
quote:
Originally posted by Kskelton:

You mean the water doesn’t come from the city water company with a bill attached? Crazy...
Crazy like a fox.

Most of our neighbours are on municipal water.
Their lawns have been turning brown. Not ours Smile

When it doesn't rain we expend up to 23,000 gal./week just watering. Can you imagine the water bill?
Our water bill is not affected by landscape watering, whether we use zero or thousands of gallons.

"Project Apricot" here in Altamonte Springs, FL, has two water lines coming to each house: the regular water for household use, and re-cycled water for irrigation. The re-cyced stuff is not metered. There is a flat rate charge on the bill for availability, this does not vary with use or non-use.

Our bill for municipal services runs something less that $60.00 / month. This includes metered water for household use, sewer charge, unmetered water for lawn watering, car washing, etc., and trash pickup and recycling pickup.



הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים
 
Posts: 30544 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Savor the limelight
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Our wells in Presque Isle County between Rogers City and Cheboygen are artesian, but that really doesn't help Brad. We're also about 60' from 850 cubic miles of fresh water.

It's interesting that Brad's well went dry as people are having too much water problems all over Michigan. For instance, that 60' from 850 cubic miles of water I mentioned above used to be 200' and three sumps in two houses are running 24/7.
 
Posts: 10821 | Location: SWFL | Registered: October 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici
Picture of ChuckFinley
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Not all aquifers are rechargable. Some, once emptied, are gone forever.




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"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." -- C.S. Lewis
 
Posts: 5643 | Location: District 12 | Registered: June 16, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Don't Panic
Picture of joel9507
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Appliance Brad: If you're installing a traditional stop/start pressure-switch system, you might consider popping for a larger expansion tank than will probably be recommended. Less pump cycles = less wear and tear on the pump and some energy savings.

Also, if you're putting together a new system, I seem to recall hearing something in a recent thread about selection of a well pump motor controller being worth some thought as well.
 
Posts: 15001 | Location: North Carolina | Registered: October 15, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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