Water well for emergency purposes

[williamsak91]

Here’s a video of something that I have been thinking of doing. It’s very cost effective and can be used in case of emergencies. For example, hurricane Matthew and Irma knocked out the power for 6 days or so for me so I could still use this (while I have no power) in an emergency. What are your opinions?




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[Brent S]

Unfortunately I have granite under foot here. Drilling a well is a pricey investment for me. Definitely going to have one put in before long though.

 

[Dani]

We have a well but didn't put it in ourselves. It comes in handy during hurricanes. Our county had to shut down the water supply due to flooding. We did boil our well water for drinking but that was precautionary on my part. We also use it on a daily basis. The cows are on an automatic waterer and lines are run out to pigs, goats and even a sprinkler system for the garden.

 

[Mountain trapper]

The last well I had drilled cost $22 per foot. I've also put in a couple sand points on another property. The water table was high and the ground was sandy so I was able to drive the sand points with a sledgehammer; total cost about $150. My current well ran about $12,000 to drill, $14,000 for the pump, $12,000 for almost 1/2 mile trenching, waterlines and hydrants and $10,000 for an 8kw Perkins generator to power the pump.
There's a company called Deep Rock that manufactures and sells a small portable well drilling rig. If you have a relatively high water table, 200 feet or less, this might be a good option for drilling your own well.

 

[Brent S]

The last well I had drilled cost $22 per foot. I've also put in a couple sand points on another property. The water table was high and the ground was sandy so I was able to drive the sand points with a sledgehammer; total cost about $150. My current well ran about $12,000 to drill, $14,000 for the pump, $12,000 for almost 1/2 mile trenching, waterlines and hydrants and $10,000 for an 8kw Perkins generator to power the pump.
There's a company called Deep Rock that manufactures and sells a small portable well drilling rig. If you have a relatively high water table, 200 feet or less, this might be a good option for drilling your own well.

That sounds interesting and would be something I would try if possible here. With the granite and depths the wells have here it wouldn’t be practicle here. Luckily I have a pump for the front creek allready for the irrigation, and county water for the homes. The back creek is even bigger, but the electric run will be tough to get a line back to it due to distance. I’m hoping to have someone drill a well this next year even with the two creeks. As they say with prepping, backups for backups.

 

[TexasFreedom]

AD,

Those #'s don't add up for me. $14k for a pump? What gpm volume are you using? And hydrants? And what size generator for $8k?

I think you're talking about a commercial water application, not a single family household. A typical 1hp pump might run $1k which works for most applications. With all that setup, I would think a solar setup would have worked better than a generator as it'll never need 'fuel'?

A buddy got one of those DIY water well drilling setups. "Not impressed" would be the best way to describe it. I suppose if you never hit rock & just went through sand/clay, it might actually work for maybe 100 ft.

 

[Mountain trapper]

AD,

Those #'s don't add up for me. $14k for a pump? What gpm volume are you using? And hydrants? And what size generator for $8k?

I think you're talking about a commercial water application, not a single family household. A typical 1hp pump might run $1k which works for most applications. With all that setup, I would think a solar setup would have worked better than a generator as it'll never need 'fuel'?

A buddy got one of those DIY water well drilling setups. "Not impressed" would be the best way to describe it. I suppose if you never hit rock & just went through sand/clay, it might actually work for maybe 100 ft.

TF,
My well is 650 feet deep with a static level of around 550' and produces 26 GPM. The pump is down at the 625 foot level and is 5 hp variable speed and pumps 16 GPM. The pump, wiring, heavy pipe plus installation, with a crane, came to around $14k. The pump motor requires 7.5 kw and 30 amps to start. A $10,000 8kw stand alone Perkins diesel generator is cheaper than running almost a half mile of heavy wire, conduit and trenching through rock from our solar site to the well. The generator is actually about $8500, but with installation and building a shed it comes to about $10k. Since we're pumping water over a half mile and over a hill, 5 hp is minium for our needs. Due to the location of our ranch everything costs a lot more than if we were in a highly populated area.
Hydrants are just frost free spigots that are buried 5 feet deep and extend 3 feet above ground.
I am thinking about drilling another well closer to the house, but that can wait for now.
I've never used one of those portable drilling rigs, but they look interesting.

 

[TexasFreedom]

Ugh! That sounds like areas west of I-35 in central Texas. People live on limestone cliffs, wells are 1000 ft deep through 99.9% rock, 'soil' is only 3" deep above that rock.

No thanks! They have beautiful views but need 4 wheel drive vehicles and can't grow gardens nor crops. 600 ft @ 30 amps? What size wire, maybe 6 gauge? By me wells are typically 30-200 ft, if your pump goes out, you can pull it up by hand.

With all that, you'd likely do better having a rainwater collection system. Storage is 30-50cents/gallon. Maybe $1-2k in equipment. So about $10k for 20k gallons stored. You'll need roof area & gutters (few $thousand? if not already installed).

 

[Mountain trapper]

Ugh! That sounds like areas west of I-35 in central Texas. People live on limestone cliffs, wells are 1000 ft deep through 99.9% rock, 'soil' is only 3" deep above that rock.

No thanks! They have beautiful views but need 4 wheel drive vehicles and can't grow gardens nor crops. 600 ft @ 30 amps? What size wire, maybe 6 gauge? By me wells are typically 30-200 ft, if your pump goes out, you can pull it up by hand.

With all that, you'd likely do better having a rainwater collection system. Storage is 30-50cents/gallon. Maybe $1-2k in equipment. So about $10k for 20k gallons stored. You'll need roof area & gutters (few $thousand? if not already installed).

I've been to West Texas before. No thanks. Wells around here very greatly in depth. Actually there are no close wells to my ranch to compare "average" depth with. I have springs and a spring fed pond on the property that is used for watering livestock and could be used as a backup for us.
I am planing on catching rain water from the barn and pipe it to a 1500-2000 gallon water tank buried about 8 feet deep to prevent freezing.
In some parts of the ranch we have very deep rich soils, and other areas are all rock.
We use 4 wheel drive every day in the fall, winter and spring. And some areas of the ranch in the summer too. Many times in winter I chain all 4 wheels on my truck in order to get home. It's just normal here.

 

[user 6789]

I live on well water we have three on our property. one has a back up generator run by propane, one is electric only, and one is a hand pump. We also collect rain water and could purify it if need be.

 

[Brent S]

Our well guy called and apologized for being so late. They are supposed to have it in by the end of next week now. The rains slowed everyone down around here. Looking forwards to shutting off the county water!