Bore well - what is involved?

Colm R

Long story short, after living in a house for just over 12 months (house is 30 years old), I've come to the conclusion that the shallow well I have is simply not sustainable.

So, I'm looking at my options, I'm going to go with a bore well. I'd like to get an understanding of whats involved:

I know depth, water quality etc cannot be answered. What I'm really enquiring about is what will I have to do for electricity and piping, and a pump house etc.

Currently the shallow well is in the front garden (20 feet deep), with a pipe rising out of the water up through the well liners to a height of about 2 feet below the surface, then through a hole in the liner underground to the side of the house, which is about 20 feet away. The pump, and softener is located beside the house. The well itself is topped off with a man hole which is flush with the garden.

So lets just say the bore is going to be in the front garden, as the back garden is not really accessible for large trucks. Besides, the septic is in the back.

Does the well need a pump house built on top of it?

If not, when all is done, what will it look like above ground?

Would it be possible to use the existing (and only 1 year old) pump that I use on the shallow well? Chancing my arm here as I assume they put submersible pumps in now.


My plan would be to run a pipe from where the existing pump is next to the house, out to the well underground. Would the existing standard electricity socket (220 V) at the pump be sufficient for whatever pump is required for the bore well? Or will I have to get my sparky to run a new supply from the fuse board?

Any other advice?

Poor Uncle Tom

You would be best advised to get a good local borewell driller on site to answer your questions. Can you deepen the existing shallow well to deep bore?

If there is going to be a submersible pump in the well, the pressure vessel doesn't need to be at the top of the well, it can be away from it, say beside your house. All the equipment should fit into a doggie kennel type structure which should protect and disguise it for you. Again if you are using a submersible there will be an electrical cable all the way to the pump at the end of the borehole.

Colm R

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

You would be best advised to get a good local borewell driller on site to answer your questions. Can you deepen the existing shallow well to deep bore?

If there is going to be a submersible pump in the well, the pressure vessel doesn't need to be at the top of the well, it can be away from it, say beside your house. All the equipment should fit into a doggie kennel type structure which should protect and disguise it for you. Again if you are using a submersible there will be an electrical cable all the way to the pump at the end of the borehole.

Cheers - indeed I'm going round to my neighbours to figure out what they have done. I don't know if the existing shallow well will be bored through, or will they go in a different spot. I'd prefer if they used a different spot because it will allow the house to have water from the existing well for the duration of the works.

sky6

Firstly you can locate the new Well anywhere you like. You tell the Borer where you want it. He will always find Water, The only difference is how Deep you may have to go to find Water. If you bore close to the existing well then good chance he won't have to go to Deep. But if he hit Rock then he could have to go as deep as 100 to 300 Ft or more. It's always a little bit of luck as to how Deep.

You may also need Well bore liner depending on the soil type and quality.
If the soil is Sandy then you will need liner. Rock except limestone is generally best as it's solid and can't fall into the Well.

Pumps are sized based on flow rate and lift height. The deeper the well the higher the lift. Flow Rate will depend on how much Water he finds and realistically how quick you want to bring it to the surface.
Your present Pump may not be suitable simply because it was sized for a shallow well. And may not have the ability to lift the Water from a deep well.
I it does then there is no need to replace it in the short term. The Engineer or Borer should be able to advise you on that.

Electrics should be ok. But bear in mind if you move the Well to the far Corner of the Garden then you will need a longer run, plus the Dept of the Well. It will need to swa cable depending on size can be expensive.

The Vessel can be left in a outside but it's best to have it indoors. if you can build a little house for it all the better.

The purpose of the vessel is to stop the pump kicking in every time someone opens a tap. The larger the Vessel the longer between pump startups.

The Submersible Pump is generally considered the best. Mostly because you don't need anywhere to store it as it's stored in the well.
There generally measured in horsepower 1/2 3/4 1hp.

Grundfos Pumps are Hard to beat for quality and reliability.

Another thing to keep in mind with location is room for if you have to take the Pump back up for any reason. You will need to have 50 to 60 ft clearance to lay it all out without damage to the pipe.

One last thing is make sure and get a spare Capacitor as they can blow at anytime and it's always better to have a Spare than to have no Water while you get one. There also quite cheap.
The other thing is to have a spare Square D pressure switch again as above.

By now your several thousand euro poorer and Phil Hogan thinks you are getting free Water.

Best of luck with it.