OT digging a shallow well

Anonymous-0 · Feb 17, 2009

Anybody have any experience at this? Here's the background: I just purchased a 20 acre parcel in central MD, part of our family farm, has a stream running through part of it, want to plow up a garden area, that area is in bottom land, near a stream, was thinking that since the water table is near surface, just take a post hole auger mounted on my skid steer, drill a hole down 5-10 feet, through the green clay layer, and would be able to have an artesian well, as the hills around this parcel were all gravel that was mined down in the 70's, I know there is a perched water aquifer near the surface, springs here and there, some fields were tiled for better drainage.
Any suggestions on pumps, anybody seen a 12 volt DC jet well pump, or would a tractor powered do better for irrigation?

buickanddeere · Feb 17, 2009

You will be happier with a long armed excavator for two hours. And a 20ft 36" dia culvert dropped into the hole and back filled.
Bury a ground plate in at the bottom and bare #6 copper cable up to the top when at it.
How far away is the nearest electrical power? I've seen 240V be stepped up to 600V with a simple cheap $100 dry core transformer. Low cost #10 copper wire in low cost plastic water pipe trenched in with a tile plough. Then dropped back to 240V with another transformer at the point of use.
A PF correction capacitor was used at the load end to further reduce current draw and voltage drop.

Janicholson · Feb 17, 2009

If you have gravel and a high Water table use a drive point on 15 to 18 ft of 2" casing. Put a foot valve in above the point to assure prime, and it will flow. More than one is also just fine to get volume. Dgging a well is a bad idea from several points of view. (the worst of which is liability, the least of which is difficulty of lining and digging) JimN

Wesley Stephens · Feb 17, 2009

the driving point is a good idea. a lot of people use them in our area and they work well.

JDemaris · Feb 17, 2009

You lost me with the "artesian well" thing. Artesian well has water that comes out of the ground via its own pressure. No pump needed. Any other use of the term is a corruption of the language. The term originated in France in area that had many such wells. If you drill a well and the water static "head" is below ground level - it is simply a drilled well. If you dig a well and the water static "head" is below ground level, it's simply a dug well. Neither are artesian.

As far a pumping goes, it all depends on how much water and how fast - and also how clean you'll be able to keep the water while pumping. Jet pump is very intolerant to dirt or debris in the water and also pretty inefficient.

Here's a real artesian well. It will send water 30 up above ground level. My dog enjoys the self-service constant running spigot.

<a href="http://s104.photobucket.com/albums/m162/jdemaris/?action=view&current=adk2.jpg" target="_blank">

</a>

<a href="http://s104.photobucket.com/albums/m162/jdemaris/?action=view&current=adk1.jpg" target="_blank">

</a>

thurlow · Feb 17, 2009

Don't know why it wouldn't work. 'Dug' wells were common as late as the 20th century in the U.S.A. and apparently still are in parts of the world. I understand they were typically 20-60 ft in depth. There's little or no surface rock in our county, just silt and clay. There was one on a farm we once rented, about 30 inches in diameter, 25 ft or so deep and lined with home-made brick. I can't imagine the guts it took to dig it out with a short-handled shovel and a bucket on a rope. If you can drill it that deep (I can visualize some extensions on your auger), why not try........

glennster · Feb 17, 2009

i have a similar situation where my mother in law has her garden on my farm. nearest electric is a good 1/4 mile away. i picked up a gasoline powered trash pump, toss the hose in the creek and then have about 100 feet or so of old canvass fire hose with a nozzle on the end. with the nozzle off, it moves a lot of water for the garden, and if i burn off ditches in the spring, i put the pump in a cart behind the riding mower to be sure any fires dont go where they aint supposed to. works good for knocking the mud off machinery too. if you dont need big volumes of water, pick up a bilge pump for a boat and a marine wash down pump, they are 12v. put the bilge pump down in your well and then hook the washdown pump to it. i wired the bilge pump to the wash down pump so they both kick on at he same time. the washdown pump runs at 20-40 psi, enough to squirt a garden hose. good for filling sprinkling cans and such, and if you add a small pressure tank, you can run a gas pressure washer off of it.

Anonymous-0 · Feb 17, 2009

Grew up on a river bottom. Most of the folks used drive points and pitcher pumps. Have a book that shows dug wells being dug by starting with a hole with a length of 3ft culvert then digging until the culvert slips down and adding culvert as you go. The article was only about a page long but wore me out.......

Dave

Mark-Mi · Feb 17, 2009

Dug a well late last fall.Bout like B&D said.One hour with the excavator.Did this one a little different,used a four foot diameter plastic corrugated double wall pipe.Bought the lid that's made to fit it.
Our soil here is about 9 inches topsoil.Next about 3 feet of yellow clay.Then about 5 feet course water sand gravel.Then solid blue clay all the way down.Surface water trickles down can't penetrate blue clay,held in water sand gravel.Makes for a good well.
Mark

jack harmon · Feb 17, 2009

A driven well would probably serve,or if you have access to a gas driven pump you may Jet one in.don't know if its still the case, but the old army survival manual used to say to dig down at least 9' from water to let sand/rock filter it.If you have a constant running creek year round,do a search for a sling pump,or a ram pump if you can get enough fall works amazingly well,and are quite simple to build.and either one uses no electricity.Might even check on solar pumps.if you have enough flow even a water wheel can move more water than a garden would use.there's countless ways to do it depending on flow,and fall, without making a well.actually digging a well is a last resort most times, too much danger of cave in if you don't shore it as you go.

Bob Kerr · Feb 17, 2009

This place has all kinds of neat stuff and they listed who makes the items they carry. The place is in Alaska but you may be able to get the stuff they get closer to you.
Untitled URL Link

VADAVE · Feb 17, 2009

There are several ways to do this, excavator is one another is a 30 inch auger. I've seen these wells 30 to 50 feet deep; I don't think they deeper then that.
One thing you have to be careful of--usually they are picking some surface water and that may be contaminated with septic fields, fertilzer migration etc. There is a farmer sorts close to me with a dug well--if they leave on a one week vacation they have to let the water run for several hours to clear out the contamiants that build up. If they use it daily there is no problem.

ScottyHOMeY · Feb 17, 2009

Nice pic with the dog! I assume the pitcher pump is purely decorative.

chuck craig in SUNNY SOCA · Feb 17, 2009

Dont know where in central MD you are , I was raised on a farm in Kent cty DE and our farm had a Geodetic marker in our front yard. It said "Highest point between Delaware and Chesapeake Bays 3 feet above sea level". We alway dug our post holes and filled them right away. If we didnt they would be full of water in 20 minutes.Farm address was RFD Cheswold DE. It was 3.5 miles from Kenton and 3.5 miles from Hartley.you have to triangulate the mileage to find the exact location.Water and wind were incopuous quantities. Dont miss them a bit. Now live in Southern CA. CC

Anonymous-0 · Feb 17, 2009

Thanks, all for the replies, Chuck, know what you are saying, when we were growing up, we would dig holes one day, come back the next, and drop the pole in the hole, try to kill the snake in it, clean by mashing that fence post down hard, and SPLASH, end up with a face full of water! Jdemaris, This ground might qualify for the artesian pressure definition, we tiled a part of it back in the 70's, if you dug deeper than 4', the water would come up so fast that you risked not getting the backhoe out till the ground froze in the winter. If anybody knows how to do it (google earth), the land in question lies along the ridge between the south river drainage area, and the patuxent river drainage area, near the headwaters of What is known as Roper's branch, in AA county, MD, but as close as you can get to PG county, MD, without crossing the Patuxent. Based on what I see here, I plan to drill down, first with a 4" auger, as deep as it will go, then fill the hole with water, let soak to wet the ground below, then drill down with a 2-1/2" bit till I hit water. Then I will let it settle a while, then install a 2" well point and set it in bentonite, maybe put in a hand stroke pump with a foot valve, and see if I can pump it dry in an hour. If I can't pump it dry in that time, then maybe I 'll think about a solar pump, as there's no electric anywhere close. Thanks again for the replies.

Janicholson · Feb 17, 2009

I do not think you should put bentonite in thwe hole. It swells and can prevent flow. Now if the point is set, gravel around, then sand on top of that. then bentonite OK. seal the top runoff potential. JimN

Anonymous-0 · Feb 17, 2009

You are so right about the artesian well [ we call them "bore". Central Australia sits on one. Last century the pioneers put down hundreds of bores and left them running, they are now losing the pressure, so the project is to go around the country and cap every one, progressing steadily.The big floods in Queensland will certainly recharge them.The water down there must be thousands of years old, wish I could age like that.

Anonymous-0 · Feb 17, 2009

You are so right about the artesian well [ we call them "bore". Central Australia sits on one. Last century the pioneers put down hundreds of bores and left them running, they are now losing the pressure, so the project is to go around the country and cap every one, progressing steadily.The big floods in Queensland will certainly recharge them.The water down there must be thousands of years old, wish I could age like that.

Mark - IN. · Feb 17, 2009

If you're only going that deep, drive it by hand. Well head is 3 or 4 feet, compression coupling, 5 foot section of pipe, compression coupling, and hydrant or keep adding as many compression couplings and sections of pipe as you need. And don't confuse a regular coupler with a compression coupler cause they aint the same thing. And don't forget the pipe dope. But because of the hydrant are going to want to bore to below the frost line. I've gone 25 feet by hand with 2" pipe but that's a workout. Can probably rent a hand driver from your local hardware. Is like a 3 foot piece of solid axle with a 100 pound weight on it. Get an extra compression coupling to drive it cause its going to take a beating. The shaft goes down into the pipe as a guide, and lift and drop the dead weight, or if you're ambitious and have to go 25 feet or so, lift and slam down on it as hard as you can...but watch them fingers. The deeper I got, the less it drove...like about an inch or half inch per slam. It works though. Quite a workout. Good for the biceps. Gets the blood pressure right up there and makes you kind of sweaty. I've done it a few times. Smokin and gettin old don't help much.

Good luck

Mark

george md · Feb 17, 2009

Dave,

A friend of mine worked on and around a house
very near your lot,it was a concrete house with
a concrete roof that was built in the thirties
I think. He did the clearing and regrading
around it and put a roof on it about 10 years
ago. I went down to work on one of his tractors
and help a little on the job. It was just south
of the 50 and 424 intersection and slightly
west,just can't remember the road name.I will
ask him where the house is located.
Local Deere dealer sends my step son down to
run the davidsonville store some times and he
does all the set up and warranty for deere in
the home depot and lowes for much of the
eastern part of the state.
Can't help you with the well info ,in this
area it is drill only.

Anonymous-0 · Feb 18, 2009

George- there are a couple of all concrete homes around here matching that description, mention a name of the owner, and it is possible that I would know them! In fact, there is one right across rte 424 from the road my farm is located on, but that is north of the 50/424 intersection. It is for sale, the guy who owned it was bought out by his company, and moved to another location, at the apex of property values around here. I bought mine in December, hoping its the bottom of the market, but with the crowd that is "in", right now, one never knows!

george md · Feb 18, 2009

Dave,

It looks like the old memory isn't so good
any more, I called my buddy and he says it is
near rossback rd , names were keith and carrol,
they moved to va.

george

george md · Feb 18, 2009

Dave,

He said it is the wood lot with 2 driveways,
I remember the upper one was impossible to see
to pull out of. Lower one is nearly on grade with
house and upper one is much above grade. Seems to
me there was a small brick building to the left
of the house ,more in line with the upper drive.
george

Anonymous-0 · Feb 19, 2009

Its a small world, aint it? That's my former neighbors across the street! If you see anybody mowing hay across from that house, on an A-C tractor, that's me! That house is a real piece of work, all the walls, floors and roof are poured concrete. Actually that whole place is for sale, 1 parcel with the concrete house and outbuildings, another house just south of it is another parcel, and the 50 or so acres behind it (woods) is another parcel. Nothing moving, though!

george md · Feb 20, 2009

Dave ,

I was in the house when they were renovating,
it is a shame they tore up the fancy tile floor
that was in the lower level.

I am located on the pa line near the susquehanna
river near a little town called whiteford , md.
If you haven't already , you might want to tour
my web site and the pictures in the photo host.
There is a link in the web site to the pictures.
Most are photos of repair jobs that have come
in to do, much of it is cast iron repair.

george
web site

Anonymous-0 · Feb 20, 2009

George: I tried to E-mail you through your web page was getting a timeout response. I'll open my e-mail on this response, Contact me, and I'll be able to send you some work sooner or later. Dave

Scottnj1 · Mar 27, 2009

It didn't sound like you're dirt is very rocky. Over on the Shore, there are quite a few wells that are "washed in". It's a simple process. Only takes a little equipment.

OT digging a shallow well

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Similar threads