HELP!! 9oo foot well collapsed

[Kip Weiss]

The worse news is that's it's going to cost over $30,000 to dig a new one. ARGH. The hopefully good news is that we have a 45 foot well that's been around forever. I had the water tested and it's good. We're in the country on top of a hill. The problem is..running out of water. I can do a small load of wash if I wait several hours between loads. The water's there but we have to wait for the pipe to refill. I'm totally a "non/plumbing/well" type so forgive me if I'm asking dumb questions.

The well is grandfathered in as long as we don't have anyone monkey with it. I'd love to just use it and not have to scramble to get enough money to dig a new well. Any good ideas?

Kip

 

[Reach4]

What kind and size of casing (if any) does the 45 ft well have?

So I think you might estimate that the well can provide about 5 gallons per hour, depending on what your washer uses.. So you would pump into a surface tank with one pump (small pump no more than 1/2 HP if it is submersible) , and you would provide pressure to the house with a different pump. You would have to prevent freezing somehow.

You will use circuitry on the well pump to shut down the water pumping for a period of time if the well runs short of water or if the surface tank is full.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Kip Weiss]

The casing is five inches. I've giving all the info to my husband...guess I should just get him on here and cut out the "middle man"!

 

[FullySprinklered]

If you are going to use the stand-by well, you'll need a cistern. This will allow a certain volume of water to collect, hopefully enough to carry you through peak demand times, keeping in mind that supply is limited. Reach does pretty good research, so his input should be considered as there's a lot to think about in a situation like yours.

There's a mountain in my town, and there's a few houses up there above the point that can be supplied by the city. So, everyone in the cul-de-sac has a water meter, but next to it is a cistern with a pump. Nice view, though.