shallow well

Tomjim

There is an old shallow well in my place which I am going to get going as a backup water source. Its about 19 foot deep and in the winter time there is circa 5 to 6 foot of water while in august there was about 1.5 foot of water.
I have cleaned out the muck at the bottom and am getting electricty in now at the moment.

If I make the well another 2 foot deeper (by hand) will that create more water.

bbam

Tomjim wrote: »

There is an old shallow well in my place which I am going to get going as a backup water source. Its about 19 foot deep and in the winter time there is circa 5 to 6 foot of water while in august there was about 1.5 foot of water.
I have cleaned out the muck at the bottom and am getting electricty in now at the moment.

If I make the well another 2 foot deeper (by hand) will that create more water.

Maybe, but no guarantee..
Most of these were either dug down into the water table where it was close to the surface or they were a sump to catch water from a near bye spring..

Obviously the big danger is if you dig down and the stone sides become unstable.

The big question is during the summer, if you pumped out the 18 inches of water - how quickly would it refill.. If it wasn't refilling reasonably quickly then a pump will be in trouble as it will quickly be pumping air..

Curly Judge

Tomjim wrote: »

There is an old shallow well in my place which I am going to get going as a backup water source. Its about 19 foot deep and in the winter time there is circa 5 to 6 foot of water while in august there was about 1.5 foot of water.
I have cleaned out the muck at the bottom and am getting electricty in now at the moment.

If I make the well another 2 foot deeper (by hand) will that create more water.

There is a slight danger that you could inadvertently dig through the strata "supporting" the spring and "lose" the whole supply.
I have heard of this happening but I cannot claim to have experienced it myself, so I cannot say for sure that it is a real possibility.
Proceed with caution!
If the well is really old and stonelined I would be very hesitant about undermining that lining with further digging.
Digging in very sandy strata can be unproductive as sand an gravel will just flow into the deepened hole.
Counteracting this would require the use of some kind of sand screen and getting these into position would undoubtedly be a tricky operation.
Best of luck with your endeavour.

bbam

I just read over this again...

I would advise strongly against getting into a 19 foot deep well and start digging with your hands or anything.. Actually, I wouldn't really recommend getting into it for any reason.. :eek:

Its just not worth the risk of a collapse... Use it as it is or forget about the project... its not worth getting killed over !!

If you feel there is a good spring there to be tapped, get a machine in and sink a few well liners... then you'll have a job !!

whitebriar

Do not dig the well,you may ruin it.
We have a shallow well.Put a pump in there that won't pump more than 2 or 300 gallons an hour and innovate,by pumping that into a high tank somewhere using a gravity flow from then to supply what you want.
Run the pump for a while to get an idea of the rate the well fills and then you know how much it will supply at various times and budget accordingly.

vanderbadger

could you get a digger to deepen it a bit and drop down some large concrete pipes to line it and then drop in your pump?

Curly Judge

bbam wrote: »

I just read over this again...

I would advise strongly against getting into a 19 foot deep well and start digging with your hands or anything.. Actually, I wouldn't really recommend getting into it for any reason.. :eek:

Its just not worth the risk of a collapse... Use it as it is or forget about the project... its not worth getting killed over !!

If you feel there is a good spring there to be tapped, get a machine in and sink a few well liners... then you'll have a job !!

Agreed!
A few tips from someone who has been down this road:
Plan this work for September when the spring is at its lowest.
Working on a vigorous spring in winter can be a nightmare and you end up with a huge hole through slippage and water wash.
Take levels and drive datum markers into the ground well clear of the proposed hole otherwise you won't know when you have reached the required depth in the midst of the the disturbance and confusion caused by the digger.
The digger itself should be something like a Hitachi 120.This size of digger should be able to dig down to 19 feet [and even deeper by digging itself into the ground.]
Have the liners bored and ready for lifting and within reach of the digger.
Use liners with an internal diameter of not less than 1200 mm.
You can work safely and in relative comfort inside such liners and they also give you a greater water reserve than narrower liners.
It is probably a good idea to have a 2" trash pump on hand to suck dry any water build up during the excavation.
The idea is to be able to dig and susk, dig and suck until the desired result is achieved.
After the liners have been placed in position, and the hole around them backfilled, the real work starts when you have to descend to the bottom of the well with a short handled shovel and a pickaxe to clear out all the inevitable detritus caused by the digging. Remember , the cleaner the well the faster it is capable of recovery.
Enjoy!

longgonesilver

You are also getting close to the limit that a one pipe shallow well pump can work at. This would be measured from the top of the water to the inlet on the pump and should be no more than 24 feet.