Anyone familiar with wells? Like drilled residential water wells...

[shibbershabber]

Im looking at buying a property that is currently serviced by a private well.

I have a well report that was done (not ordered by me) a few weeks ago and it doesnt look good.


Well depth is 60ft, Static water level is 43ft.
Tested 0.9GPM for 2hrs. Draw down to 55.5ft

Located a couple miles north of Yacolt.

Obviously .9gpm aint making it.

Im wondering is this too shallow for this area? There had been people living there since the 70s on the well... could it be going dry?

Equipment problems? 1/2hp seems a little weak to me... but then again I dont know what is really required for a well of that depth.

Its a drilled well with a 6" casing

No information on GIS about the well at all.

Trying to figure out if this is worth pursuing... need a new pump? Need to have it hydrofracked? Need to drill down more?

Probably will end up paying for my own inspection and sample testing... but maybe someone has some advice here

Read More

 

[boattail]

Check with the county as to minimum Gpm for a domestic well. .9 is nothing. 1/2 hp will go 140' or more with the right set up.

 

[shibbershabber]

I believe the county wants min of 3 gpm... So no way I get the building permit, as is.

 

[shibbershabber]

Is that low of a flow rate indicative of anything ?

Or could it still be anything?

 

[DivCurlGrad72]

Maybe it helps: my new well is around 250 ft deep and produces around 50 gpm. This well replaced the original well that apparently was so weak that you couldn't shower and do laundry at the same time (so I was told). Huge difference given that both wells are located on the same 1 acre property. Found my well data on:

ArcGIS Web Application

idwr.maps.arcgis.com

 

[pharmseller]

A 6-inch wide cylinder hold 1.47 gallons per foot. The static water level is the distance from the top of ground level to the top of the water level in your well. If the static level is 43 feet and the well is 60 feet deep, you have a 17 foot column of water, assuming the pump is at the bottom of the well. So you have .9 gallons per minute and a 25 gallon tank, in essence.

That's not enough.

My well is 510 feet deep with the pump at 490. My static level is 55 or so, meaning I have over 630 gallons in the pipe. The flow is only 3 gpm but I've never had problems.

 

[Provincial]

The well test is supposed to tell you the rate of replenishment. This is how much water flows into the well as it is pumped out. The static level is where the incoming water stabilizes in the well casing, and pretty much indicates the static level of the water in the aquifer.

If the static level is far above the level of the pump, that water is potentially available, but the flow rate through the soil/rock limits how fast you can draw it out.

A plentiful aquifer with a slow flow rate can be buffered by putting in a large (thousands of gallons) cistern or holding tank. Then the well can produce a small amount 24/7. In your present case .9 x 24 = 21.6 gallons per day. That isn't much!

Most people think that deepening a well will get them more water. Maybe, but not for sure. It depends on the conditions underground. One danger of deepening the well is reaching a contaminated layer (often salt water) that poisons the well.

If you are serious about the property, you need to consult a well driller that is familiar (and experienced) with drilling wells in the area. A good driller will give valuable advice, but one that just wants to be paid to drill a dry hole can lead you astray. Check their references with their customers.

 

[kmk1012]

Most wells that I've dealt with went through two encapsulating layers and cases to the first. Your well is very shallow and may well be considered ground water. This property needs a deeper well to get better flow. Do you have access to a water test report? I'd be concerned with a well that shallow for potable drinking water.

 

[shibbershabber]

Most wells that I've dealt with went through two encapsulating layers and cases to the first. Your well is very shallow and may well be considered ground water. This property needs a deeper well to get better flow. Do you have access to a water test report? I'd be concerned with a well that shallow for potable drinking water.

The inspection done did not test the water quality

 

[shibbershabber]

Finally got the guy who did the inspection.

Says everything is working fine, the water source is crap and,is too shallow.


Possible to drill the same well deeper or start from scratch elsewhere on the property?

What might I be looking at? Last time I looked into it, it was about $25/ft ...

 

[pharmseller]

Mine was $10/ft 25 years ago. Drilled in 20 foot increments. I watched.

$200
$200
$200
Repeat until you puke.




P

 

[Labradorian]

My water supply is a bit weird too, not a well but a fairly reliable dribble (which I have no control over). I dump it into a 1000 gallon tank and surge it out with a shallow well pump and a pressure tank.

 

[SunTzu]

Im looking at buying a property that is currently serviced by a private well.

I have a well report that was done (not ordered by me) a few weeks ago and it doesnt look good.


Well depth is 60ft, Static water level is 43ft.
Tested 0.9GPM for 2hrs. Draw down to 55.5ft

Located a couple miles north of Yacolt.

Obviously .9gpm aint making it.

Im wondering is this too shallow for this area? There had been people living there since the 70s on the well... could it be going dry?

Equipment problems? 1/2hp seems a little weak to me... but then again I dont know what is really required for a well of that depth.

Its a drilled well with a 6" casing

No information on GIS about the well at all.

Trying to figure out if this is worth pursuing... need a new pump? Need to have it hydrofracked? Need to drill down more?

Probably will end up paying for my own inspection and sample testing... but maybe someone has some advice here
View attachment 1050221

While I'm not a professional well driller or "expert" my family has had wells drilled as well as bought land with wells already on it. I currently own a home on acreage with a well now and grew up that way too.

In PNW:
You should get 7-15 gallons per minute, more for an agriculture well.
Your well is really shallow for a well in PNW. My guess is you have a "surface water" well.
I've had wells near Eagle Creek, Oregon (mt hood, estacada), boring, oregon, and out in the hills from camas/washougal, washington.
The shallowest well i've had is 170 ft, deepest was in the 325ish ft deep range.

The well drillers will usually hit what they call "surface water" around 50 ft if memory serves me, then they drill way past that to get to the real ground water.

My *guess* as an experienced amateur who has worked on PNW commercial farms and lived most of his life on wells is that you likely have a surface water well that is not suitable for running a house.



In the Rocky Mountains:
I also have family in the Rockies on wells and their wells don't put out much, so they run the pump on a cycle and have very large cisterns to collect the trickle. The cistern then stores up water to be available during household demand times, but it's definitely NOT enough to run agriculture. Their wells are VERY DEEP and don't provide much water. :/

 

[monks]

I would ask the professionals about it in your area. There has to be a pump company around your area that will give you their opinion. Also ask the neighbors about the depth of their wells. I know I need a well because my 20' deep hand dug 1954 well runs out of water every December. It looks like it's going to cost @20k and the list for getting it done is a long one. Good luck.

 

[shibbershabber]

Finally got the details.....

.9gpm if lucky and,not getting any better.

New well needed.

Unfortunately someone put an offer in ahead of me...

 

[rjmt]

my well is 125' pumping 6 gpm into a 100 gal holding tank
several of my neighbors have 1000 gal tanks, but with lower pump rate
I've never run dry in 24 years

 

[BWH]

this yacolt property have a cistern on it as a holding source to draw from?

 

[rjmt]

a cistern system is completely different from my pressurized tank
sorry, I have no experience with a cistern system

 

[BWH]

back in the way old days, on marginal properties, they would pump into a concrete tank that was built into the ground and pretty much completely closed up.
The weak well would pump into that as a source to draw from and then the well would refill it at most likely off hours.