Drilling a water well

johngalway

Bit of an expansive question this.

Two of my sisters rent houses below my farm. The council supply is so unreliable as to be useless. I'd also like a supply myself.

So, could two houses and a farm operate off one well? Houses are three and four bedroom, and to be honest I wouldn't be drawing a lot of water off it, bit of spraying and a few drinkers for when I get the place divided up.

I've had a search on here and read some strange replies on cost, from €800 to €8,000.

I realize cost is per foot or meter and different depths for different areas plus different linings. But th e above is a massive difference.

Those of you who have had wells drilled:

What company did you use, would you use them again?
How deep did you need to go?
Did you divine beforehand, if not are you sorry you didn't?
Was the company of any help in regards to estimate depth?
What bits and bobs did you get along with the well and lining, and what after care service was offered?

Any other relevant details would be appreciated.

Just an option I'm thinking of throwing out for consideration at the moment.

reilig

johngalway wrote: »

So, could two houses and a farm operate off one well? 2 houses and a 120 acre farm operated on our well for many years without a problem.
Those of you who have had wells drilled:

What company did you use, would you use them again? Briody's from Clonmellon Count Westmeath in 1980. Well still operates today with no problem so I'd use them again - they're still going strong and have 30 years more experience than they had when we got them. How deep did you need to go? 200ft - met water at 120ft but they kept going to ensure that we would have water all year roundDid you divine beforehand, if not are you sorry you didn't? YesWas the company of any help in regards to estimate depth? They recommended going at least 100 ft below the water table to ensure that the well would operate for a lifetimeWhat bits and bobs did you get along with the well and lining, and what after care service was offered? They just supplied the lining and the 2 pipes from top to bottom. Had to install the pump ourselves. It was 1980 - after care didn't exist.
Any other relevant details would be appreciated. Ask if you want to know anything else and I'll try to help. Just an option I'm thinking of throwing out for consideration at the moment.

.

gally74

Mid back up briodys too

vanderbadger

also had briodys drill a well last autumn, had to go very deep..400ft which increased cost alot, its amazing the volumn of water, if it rains for a few days the water flows artesian for weeks on end..from that depth, ive love to know what pushes it up as we are nearly the highest point around..had to get sulphur filter so as not to have smelly water in house, other thing i notice is that kettle is scaling up now so must be a bit of hardness in water but sure thats no big deal, the pump is all the way down the well, the well is also lined with steel down to the rock and with plastic liner all the way down. its cost a bit day one but i suppose if you are adding in a few houses then get a few bob off everyone and work it that way, beats water scheme any time in my opinion

bbam

We operate farm and house off one well, farm wouldn't be huge sink on water as we catch rainwater for drinkers... House is about 150 meters from the well, the well is only about 200ft but has a wonderful supply.

The house has a pressurised system, tank in garage that holds about 50galons and a .75 HP submersible pump in it. This acts as a buffer system if the house consumption is higher than the supply rate, in two years we've never emptied the tank..

I reckon another house would run fine of ours but like I said our farm wouldn't be a huge water consumer.. Dairying might be different.


Be aware when drilling that water isn't a guarantee, I have a friend in Longford who had a 1.5acre house site. They tried 3 bores greater than 350 feet and no decent usable water supply, still had to pay the €15K for the work.. It took another €1.5K to have the best of the bores blasted at the bottom to get a reasonable supply.

vanderbadger

bbam wrote: »

We operate farm and house off one well, farm wouldn't be huge sink on water as we catch rainwater for drinkers... House is about 150 meters from the well, the well is only about 200ft but has a wonderful supply.

The house has a pressurised system, tank in garage that holds about 50galons and a .75 HP submersible pump in it. This acts as a buffer system if the house consumption is higher than the supply rate, in two years we've never emptied the tank..

I reckon another house would run fine of ours but like I said our farm wouldn't be a huge water consumer.. Dairying might be different.


Be aware when drilling that water isn't a guarantee, I have a friend in Longford who had a 1.5acre house site. They tried 3 bores greater than 350 feet and no decent usable water supply, still had to pay the €15K for the work.. It took another €1.5K to have the best of the bores blasted at the bottom to get a reasonable supply.

ya a very good point about the cost..when the lads were drilling mine i noticed them dropping pebbles down the well every so often and waiting to hear a sound that never came they were on the last 2 ft of drilling rod that they had and looking at each other, i think they were wondering how are we going to break the bad news to this guy that we are after drilling 400 feet and found feck all and oh ya you still owe us a fortune..next thing the water started gushing up, you never saw 2 more relieved lads..

5live

Linehans from limerick did ours a few years ago. They supplied the diviner and he told them about 200 ft down at that point. They hit water at 250 but not enough supply so went to 360 ft and we got a gusher:D. The well was close to a power supply too ( about 150ft) so that was a help. I would say most have a diviner themselves to make their job easier as the shallower the drilling the quicker they can move on.

A neighbour got a well done just before me to supply a shop and 2 houses. 600ft and no water:eek:. Like a previous poster they had to blast to get supply but there was no problem supplying all but they had to get a bigger pump.

The total cost for us iirc was E8500 which included drilling, lining, pump, wiring and rock breaker to dig for powerline and water. We were paying over 3500 a year on water so the payback was just over 2 years

Username John

Hello,

Sunk a new well last year. Didnt get it divined. We had to go to 400ft, which I was a bit suprised at.
At the minute, it only supplies the house. But as I only have a few sheep on the farm, I shouldnt have too great a draw on it like.
Steel pipe down to rock, and then plastic lining from there on.
It was about 150 ft away from the garage, so the tank is in there. There is a submersable pump, 1.5hp, as its deep plus we need to pump it up a fair hill behind the house - when I get around it running water around the farm.
Cost of well boring = 2500
Cost of pump (incl tanks and fitting) = 1500

This was in Cork, so not sure the names would help you in Galway John
But pm me if you want more info.

reilig

A neighbour has the ability to divine for water. They sunk their own well on an outfarm with a digger. He divined the spot and they dug down with a digger - over 30ft. They installed the lining and a sumbersiable pump. That was over 10 years ago and its still working to this day - he has over 100 cattle on the farm and it supplies all they require.

Butcher Boy

Hi johngalway as far as i know there is a grant going for boring a well up to 3000 yoyo available the house must be 7 years or older.I went about it and it was there at christmas anyway.tell them it is for your house only.

what happen

Butcher Boy wrote: »

Hi johngalway as far as i know there is a grant going for boring a well up to 3000 yoyo available the house must be 7 years or older.I went about it and it was there at christmas anyway.tell them it is for your house only.

their is a grant all right but if you have a mains water supply or if a group water supply is coming 2 or 3 years down the road you will get no grant.i know someone who looked into it and he told me that.

just do it

reilig wrote: »

A neighbour has the ability to divine for water. They sunk their own well on an outfarm with a digger. He divined the spot and they dug down with a digger - over 30ft. They installed the lining and a sumbersiable pump. That was over 10 years ago and its still working to this day - he has over 100 cattle on the farm and it supplies all they require.

I think you described this type of well before. Would you mind explaining how to make such a diy well again? I've a spring beside the shed so I'm happy to take a punt at a cheap well.

keep going

we drilled two wells over the years and should prob go for a third.its not a big problem to get enough water for a house as most houses only use 200 to 300 gls a day. ask welldrillers to give you a 2500gl well and they all start mumbling and wont stand over it in our country. apparently the rock is so hard if you 3 ft off your gone and their is no need to line it.even with divining its pure luck but thats just our place.dont get a diviner with the company as they always find it where its easy to park the lorry

just do it

keep going wrote: »

dont get a diviner with the company as they always find it where its easy to park the lorry

A great business being a diviner. Point at a spot and there is a 99% chance you'll hit water within 400ft! And who's going to challenge you? Only way to prove if you're any good or not is to bore a few more holes and see how far till you hit water;)

vanderbadger

Username John wrote: »

Hello,

Sunk a new well last year. Didnt get it divined. We had to go to 400ft, which I was a bit suprised at.
At the minute, it only supplies the house. But as I only have a few sheep on the farm, I shouldnt have too great a draw on it like.
Steel pipe down to rock, and then plastic lining from there on.
It was about 150 ft away from the garage, so the tank is in there. There is a submersable pump, 1.5hp, as its deep plus we need to pump it up a fair hill behind the house - when I get around it running water around the farm.
Cost of well boring = 2500
Cost of pump (incl tanks and fitting) = 1500

This was in Cork, so not sure the names would help you in Galway John
But pm me if you want more info.

that was great value to drill and line to that depth in fairness

Username John

vanderbadger wrote: »

that was great value to drill and line to that depth in fairness

I should have said 2500 cash. (Even though it'll do the farm as well, tis for the new house)

I was happy with it then.

I think the original quote was

€6 / ft + plastic lining @ €2 / foot

which would have been around €3200 for the 400ft.

But he said he gets his work by word of mouth, so he didnt want to get a bad rep for going fierce deep unless he absolutely had to. So he said 2500...

EDIT : Just realised it was 2009 I sunk the well, not 2010... bloody hell... So they 2009 prices.

keep going

just do it wrote: »

A great business being a diviner. Point at a spot and there is a 99% chance you'll hit water within 400ft! And who's going to challenge you? Only way to prove if you're any good or not is to bore a few more holes and see how far till you hit water;)

wouldnt be as sceptical as that but i dont think they can up the deep wells but your right about the 400ft. id say they work for high springs

aah yes

Just a wee poem many centuries back about divining, and some historical investigations about divining ...


"Some Sorcerers do boast they have a Rod,

Gather'd with Vowes and Sacrifice,

And (borne about) will strangely nod,

To hidden Treasure where it lies;

Mankind is (sure) that Rod divine,

For to the Wealthiest (ever) they incline."


In the late 1960s during the Vietnam War, some United States Marines used dowsing to attempt to locate weapons and tunnels. As late as 1986, when 31 soldiers were taken by an avalanche during an operation in the NATO drill Anchor Express in Vassdalen, Norway, the Norwegian army attempted to locate soldiers buried in the avalanche using dowsing as a search method. 16 soldiers died.

A 1948 study tested 58 dowser's ability to detect water. None of them were more reliable than mere chance. A 1979 review examined many controlled studies of dowsing for water, and found that none of them showed better than chance results.

In a study in Munich 1987-1988 by Hans-Dieter Betz and other scientists, 500 dowsers were initially tested for their "skill" and the experimenters selected the best 43 among them for further tests. Water was pumped through a pipe on the ground floor of a two storey barn. Before each test the pipe was moved in a direction perpendicular to the water flow. On the upper floor each dowser was asked to determine the position of the pipe. Over two years the dowsers performed 843 such tests. Of the 43 pre-selected and extensively tested candidates at least 37 showed no dowsing ability. The results from the remaining 6 were said to be better than chance, resulting in the experimenters' conclusion that some dowsers "in particular tasks, showed an extraordinarily high rate of success, which can scarcely if at all be explained as due to chance ... a real core of dowser phenomena can be regarded as empirically proven."

However five years after the Munich study was published, Jim T. Enright, a professor of physiology and a leading skeptic who emphasised correct data analysis procedure, contended that the study's results are merely consistent with statistical fluctuations and not significant. He believed the experiments provided "the most convincing disproof imaginable that dowsers can do what they claim," stating that the data analysis was "special, unconventional and customized." Replacing it with "more ordinary analyses," he noted that the best dowser was on average 4 millimeters out of 10 meters closer to a mid-line guess, an advantage of 0.0004%, and that five other good dowsers were on average further than a mid-line guess.

More recently a study was undertaken in Kassel, Germany, under the direction of the Gesellschaft zur Wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften (GWUP) [Society for the Scientific Investigation of the Parasciences]. The three-day test of some 30 dowsers involved plastic pipes through which water flow could be controlled and directed. The pipes were buried 50 centimeters under a level field, the position of each marked on the surface with a colored strip. The dowsers had to tell whether water was running through each pipe. All the dowsers signed a statement agreeing this was a fair test of their abilities and that they expected a 100 percent success rate, however the results were no better than chance.


The highest rate of success for finding water by divining / dowsing technicians, is within regions where water tables are found at some distance below ground level. In Ireland, virtually all areas of land in most regions have water tables, aquifers, or some form of water yield within a few feet to a few hundred feet of drilling, below ground surface level. see more ... http://www.galwaywater.ie/home/divining-or-dowsing

trabpc

10 years ago I Got a local diviner in just to see. And he reckoned I hit water at a spot in garden. Had 13 ton track machine and started digging... At 15 ft nothing but at 16ft came acroos what I can only describe like fire hose reel coming in side of excavation. So dropped in 3 manhole rings and chippings outside rings in as quick as I could and topped with preccast biscuit cover. Shallow enough but always have at least one ring of water in summer. Over 10 years. Tested and clear. Little hard but otherwise perfect. Working and never a bother. Had digger so only cost was few stone chips and precast mh rings. €400 at the time. My Brother had warned me about his experience of guys drilling for him down 400 ft and nothing but sulphur mixed with water... Rotton and could not use. Still got charged. Anyone who goes down that depth through rock is guaranteed sulphur. Now the diving bit, i recon if I threw the cat over my back while standing on one leg reading the journal id have the same chance of hitting water 50-50. Friend got same Guy in to divine his well and 3 holes later absolutely nothing.

aah yes

common sense says that waving twigs around based on a para-science at best of supernatural methods from old witch craft arts is pretty much leaving it to chance, and if some aul fella says "I've got the gift" looking for a few bob, sure its a fairly certain guarantee the aul fella will indeed get a few bob

water finds its level underground, so there is a 99% chance in most areas where drilling has previously been conducted from county to county by well drillers, erring on the side of caution, to watch out for those rare spots where over the years it may have been known tricky to find water, a well driller will generally find water from 10 feet to 300 or 400 feet not a bother

drilling to 300 or 400 feet will not guarantee you will hit sulphur veins, most areas say in Galway County for example do not yield sulphur, areas that do are fairly well known - take Gurtymadden in Galway - its nearly every well drilled, stinks of sulphur, however most other areas are grand, say Bushy Park in Galway not a worry, maybe the odd well with iron

some areas are split, a village in Galway County - Menlough 95% are free of sulphur at whatever depth, then one part of Menlough has extreme sulphur, same for Colemanstown, Galway the West side is lowish iron and no sulphur, then 4 miles over on the East side, record iron levels and some odd levels of sulphur but still hit and miss

its all to do with how the lord put down rock strata back in the early bible days, all a bit of a random thing, working in mysterious ways and all that

aah yes

the most excellent well drilling companies operating in Ireland today without any hint of a doubt have to be either Dullea Drilling or Dunnes Drilling, both are at the top of their game, have been for the last 30 - 40 years or more, are the highest recommended, best value, true professionals and gentlemen through and through

no need to comment on the lowest ranking, lets just say that any firm that operate just off a mobile, no website, promising low rates to get work, are likely to end up charging monster scary prices at the end, with the poorest work offered, shallowest levels, substandard liners / casings, tiny pumps, etc