getting the well right
From the start of purchasing this house, my biggest concern has been The Well. I'm a Carolina grad, so "the Old Well" had some happy connotations in the past, but the phrase now gives me considerable anxiety.
On the new property, we have not one but three old wells.
The first is an eyesore with a bucket and chain and a 50-ft hole in the ground. Remember that one? Immediate safety concern and we tackled phase one of removing it ourselves. The next steps require a county permit and a whole lot of concrete.
But there are two more from the 70s! We think the most recent is about 150 feet deep, which I learned is shallow, and kind of close to the septic (not good), but a whopping 25 gallons per minute. And it didn't test clean. This is actually crazy because the well is so productive that it can't even be chlorinated-- it gobbles up the chemicals and replenishes before they can even be detected in the water and kill bacteria. Fascinating, but not helpful in the quest for clean water for our family.
Ick.
We thought it would be a deal-breaker, but the sellers were willing to put money toward drilling a new well, so we decided to take the plunge.
I know nothing about wells. I've learned as much as I can, but I'm relying almost entirely on the local experts: well drillers, well-intentioned well pump guys, and credentialed inspectors at the county environmental health department. Being so far out of my own knowledge base makes me extremely uncomfortable, especially for such an important factor for our family's future in this home. Did I mention we did home test kits of the water and they came back fine? But the professional results reported e. coli contamination? It's perplexing. But that's why we aren't taking any chances.
Our plan was to examine the problem and break it down. We needed a new, clean, permitted and inspected well for our family. One that can be chlorinated and filtered as appropriate and as directed by the super helpful (really) environmental health folks. We can add filters to make it even better. We can't guarantee water but we felt pretty confident about it because of the neighbors' success, the impressive yield of the current (contaminated wells), and the fact that we have 15 acres on which to find a new site. Our hope was that it would just come down to money, which we can control, relatively speaking.
The first task was to select a new well site with the driller and the county. It's not convenient to the house, but it's much farther away from the septic and the river and that bodes well for quality. We will have to figure out how to wire it and plumb it to the house.
Here's the glorious moment of the driller planting the flag for a new well site.
Yay?
Step two, wait for better weather and drill the giant hole. And they did! It took several days. It was loud. And messy. And kind of hilarious when the guys fell asleep in beach chairs listening to the "white noise" of the giant rig.
Does the video work? Probably not, but you get the idea.
And there was water! With a great yield (they tell me) of 10-12 gallons per minute. I learned this is a lot since the pumps into homes only pump 5 gallons per minute. It's hard to run dry when your well produces twice as much water as the pump can pump. So that's good (they tell me).
Next, the grouted the casing and put a cap on. Apparently they did this?
Next, a pump. The dropped it in but need power to flush it out to make sure the water runs clear. If it does, great, then we work on hooking it up to the house. If it doesn't, we add a liner and drop the pump a bit deeper. Does it sound like I know what I am talking about? Because I don't. At all. And I HATE that, but I am trying so very hard to learn and stay calm about it.
Now they trench a water line from the new well all the way across the front yard, cutting up and relaying a section of the driveway, and into the house to the location of the hot water heater.
I can't tell you how excited we were to see this plumbing progress, even if it isn't complete! And I'm incredibly grateful for the help from the county health department rep, who was truly wonderful and responsive. It takes the county, the homeowner, a well driller, a well pump installer, concrete and landscapers, and a plumber to make it even this far.
They added a containment tank to help with water pressure after this, and once it's hooked up it will be tested to see if a filter is needed. We hope this week, with final electrical work scheduled, it can all be hooked up. But we've said that before so I don't want to hold my breath.
The day we get clean water I will be popping champagne. Because good grief.
On the new property, we have not one but three old wells.
The first is an eyesore with a bucket and chain and a 50-ft hole in the ground. Remember that one? Immediate safety concern and we tackled phase one of removing it ourselves. The next steps require a county permit and a whole lot of concrete.
Ick.
We thought it would be a deal-breaker, but the sellers were willing to put money toward drilling a new well, so we decided to take the plunge.
I know nothing about wells. I've learned as much as I can, but I'm relying almost entirely on the local experts: well drillers, well-intentioned well pump guys, and credentialed inspectors at the county environmental health department. Being so far out of my own knowledge base makes me extremely uncomfortable, especially for such an important factor for our family's future in this home. Did I mention we did home test kits of the water and they came back fine? But the professional results reported e. coli contamination? It's perplexing. But that's why we aren't taking any chances.
Our plan was to examine the problem and break it down. We needed a new, clean, permitted and inspected well for our family. One that can be chlorinated and filtered as appropriate and as directed by the super helpful (really) environmental health folks. We can add filters to make it even better. We can't guarantee water but we felt pretty confident about it because of the neighbors' success, the impressive yield of the current (contaminated wells), and the fact that we have 15 acres on which to find a new site. Our hope was that it would just come down to money, which we can control, relatively speaking.
The first task was to select a new well site with the driller and the county. It's not convenient to the house, but it's much farther away from the septic and the river and that bodes well for quality. We will have to figure out how to wire it and plumb it to the house.
Here's the glorious moment of the driller planting the flag for a new well site.
Yay?
Step two, wait for better weather and drill the giant hole. And they did! It took several days. It was loud. And messy. And kind of hilarious when the guys fell asleep in beach chairs listening to the "white noise" of the giant rig.
Does the video work? Probably not, but you get the idea.
And there was water! With a great yield (they tell me) of 10-12 gallons per minute. I learned this is a lot since the pumps into homes only pump 5 gallons per minute. It's hard to run dry when your well produces twice as much water as the pump can pump. So that's good (they tell me).
Next, the grouted the casing and put a cap on. Apparently they did this?
Next, a pump. The dropped it in but need power to flush it out to make sure the water runs clear. If it does, great, then we work on hooking it up to the house. If it doesn't, we add a liner and drop the pump a bit deeper. Does it sound like I know what I am talking about? Because I don't. At all. And I HATE that, but I am trying so very hard to learn and stay calm about it.
Now they trench a water line from the new well all the way across the front yard, cutting up and relaying a section of the driveway, and into the house to the location of the hot water heater.
I can't tell you how excited we were to see this plumbing progress, even if it isn't complete! And I'm incredibly grateful for the help from the county health department rep, who was truly wonderful and responsive. It takes the county, the homeowner, a well driller, a well pump installer, concrete and landscapers, and a plumber to make it even this far.
They added a containment tank to help with water pressure after this, and once it's hooked up it will be tested to see if a filter is needed. We hope this week, with final electrical work scheduled, it can all be hooked up. But we've said that before so I don't want to hold my breath.
The day we get clean water I will be popping champagne. Because good grief.
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