Worth Going Deeper?

[InOverHisHead]

Howdy folks, I very much appreciate the existence of this forum, I'll be as brief as possible. I've been studying wells now for a couple of years and I have got it in my head that I can absolutely dig my own.

I'm in the midwest, and surrounded by lakes. According to the surveys around me there's shallow water available around 20sh feet in sand and gravel layers, and then a lot of blue clay after that probably for another 100-200 feet. Thereafter, more water (presumably).

My question is - is there any point in digging down 120 feet into this when the only water I'm likely to get is from so much higher up without digging an additional 100-200 feet?

Yes, the water is way down there... but I don't think I could dig that deep on my own. I've constructed myself a clever water filtration system utilizing gravity fed filters from a tower next to where the well will be - so I'm not as concerned about water quality from shallower wells, it'll be used mostly for irrigation anyways.

I just can't seem to wrap my head around this - if the water level is around 20-30 feet, but I keep digging to allow for further capacity - is the well just going to fill up from that level? Or will the well be dry if I dig down into that clay layer and stop?

I've seen about multi-screened wells, or maybe putting the screen in shallower?

Am I rambling? Is any of this making some sense?

Should I just dig a 40 foot well instead? Help someone in over his head a little.. Thank you, god bless.

 

[Valveman]

Don't think there are many shallow wells in SD. Probably for a reason. Most states require the upper ground water zones to be cemented off from the lower zones. You don't want to co-mingle water zones. You could drive a sand point and see if there is enough shallow water to work with. But I am thinking you will need to drill a deep well if you want real water.