How much should a well cost?????

[hammersley]

OK - I know this is really a SWAG - BUT here is the situation. I want to drill a well JUST for irrigation of plants around my house NOT for ag use NOR domestic water..... the water table is extremely shallow - springs everyplace and we're on a slight hill with water above and below us - however we're in a neighborhood - not in the country. So a shallow well - very easy access - ballpark - i. e. is there a minimum cost like say $2000 or whatever - and i know it varies where you are etc... ... for several water bills our water will run over $300! We get screwed because all the water a sewage charge even though it's not going into the sewer... ... that more than doubles the bill.....

 

[rubberneck]

I had an 8" well drilled last year for domestic/ag use and it cost me $18 per foot. In addition, I had pay for a 100' seal because of the domestic use. All in all i had about 6K in it. I have no idea if most drilling companies charge a minimum, but i would imagine they might. After watching them do it, it looks like one of those jobs where it is just about as much work to drill 50' as it would be 500' if you know what i mean. You probably would only need a 6" well, and I doubt they would make you install the seal since it wont be for domestic use. IIRC, the company that did mine wanted $15 or $16 per foot for a 6"



Can you even get a permit to do a well if city water is available?? Around here, they wont give you one. As a matter of fact, they are trying to force some people to abandon their wells and hook up to city water in the areas that have been developed and incorporated.

 

[CSnyder]

I would look into a cheap shallow point well. I live in a river valley and my home well is only 15 feet underground and 3 inch pipe and I NEVER have water issues. This particular well has been used in this house for over 30 years! The shallow point wells come in short 5 foot sections that you drive into the ground then attach another piece and drive it in etc etc until you have a gusher like the Beverly Hillbillys with their oil. I believe Home Depot sells them and you wouldnt even have to get a permit for it and nobody would know what your doing except close neighbors. If you have lots of springs and such I would say go 20 feet and cap it with a hydrant and enjoy the free water!

 

[B.G. Smith]

Yeah, if your water table is not deep, do it yourself. I have a 22' well with two inch casing and I drilled it myself with a home made rig, cost less than $500. 00 and I have never run out of water. Water has lots of minerals so I can't use it to wash the truck but the lawn and shrubbery seem to like it. bg

 

[Rotty]

$16-18 per foot for a bored well, just a hole in the ground. That does not include the well pump!#@$%!

I had one done in lincoln city, 6 years ago. It went 305', so bored wells are not cheap.

If you can do a 2" well ponit pounded in the ground it woud be much cheaper.

If it is only for irrigation, shallow wells are fine.

I would also just look into permits, just in case.

 

[PToombs]

Most shallow well points need a pump anyway. The water doesn't usually come flowing up, if so it's an artesian well. The shallow well pumps are cheap compared to a deep well.

Around here if you want water for a pool etc. the water dept. will give you another meter. It goes on the outside faucet, where you are filling the pool or whatever. The meter reader comes and reads both, then they subtract the one from the other. Then you use 8k of water, and pay sewer tax on 5k. Pretty good idea!

 

[BimmerAgent]

Well

Hammersley- I just had a new well drilled here 2 weeks ago. It's about 43 feet deep. The cost was about $4700 with the pump and installation. They had a minimum of $3250 just to drill, then add in the cost of the pump. We also had to have some extra backhoe work done due to the sinkhole that opened up in the first attempt. This well is only for irrigation, no household use, as it's raw. I has other bids of $4250 and $3750 just to drill. I'm so happy that we did it! Bruce

 

[hammersley]

Excellent info

thanks a lot folks... ... will keep you informed.....

 

[Bloomy]

I know this doesn't help much, but thought I would share this. Friends of mine built a new house and of course had to drill a well since they sit on 500 acres by themselves in the middle of nowhere. They knew it was going to be deep based on the neighbors, but this is what they ended up with. Finished depth was just over 700 feet (seven hundred) cased with 5" for just over 500' of it. some decent bedrock that didn't need cased. Total bill was a little over $33,000. 00.



Thomas

 

[Skydiver]

I would love to have a well. It has rained 1/4" this month in East Alabama.
If I had the water table you have I would hand dig a well.
24" will hold 23. 5 gallons per foot.
30" 36. 7 gallons per foot.
36" 52. 8 gallons per foot.
I would just start digging on a wet spot and set a 30 or 36" pipe on when it gets deep enough. Always can stack another section on top and go on down. When you can no longer bend over without getting your face submerged it's time to stop or use a pump to go deeper. I won't say use S. C. U. B. A. but it would work.
Might want to rent a gasoline post hole digger to see if you can hit water at 5 ' .
The good thing is you already have water real close to where you want it . Ground level.
As a rule the more you use a well the more water it will yield.

 

[bighammer]

It wouldn't hurt to call all your drillers in the yellow pages. They know (what's under) your area the best and could give you some good ideas on what's needed and cost.

 

[Alphacowboy]

I bet if you used a post hole digger with a 24 or 18" augger and a few extentions, you should be able to get yourself a deep enough hole that will fill up with water. I say drill it down 3-4 feet below the point you hit water. Then take the coresponding size plastic cuvert to the hole your drilled and drill a bunch of 1/2" holes in the bottom 3-4 ft of the culvert. Then, wrap the culvert with a landscaping cloth. Also cover the bottom with the landscaping cloth as well. Drop the culvert in the hole, and back fill around it with crushed rock. Cut the culvert off level with the ground and drop a couple shovels of the crushed rock into the bottom as well. Then trench a underground rated wire to a post next to the hole. Install a GFCI outlet that is controlled by an outdoor water proof switch (or switched from inside the garage or home) and toss a standard sump pump into the hole and plumb a line up to the top and mount a spiget to the same post on the opposite side of the outlet. You will have to plumb in some type or relief valve that dumps back into the hole though, so you can use a sprinkler or spray nozzle. Then cap the top with either a steel plate or maybe use a sump pump cover you can find at any local building supply place.



Just an idea for ya.

 

[JR2]

If you want to get fancy you could rent a bobcat with a auger, I drilled some 10-12 ft deep holes with one a couple of years ago. You can get more extensions and drill deeper too...

 

[OKish]

hmm, when i had out 6 inch well drilled they went 68 feet and i had a 1 horse pump installed. i think i paid some where round 450-500 dollars installed. not bad eh? shallow wells are easy as pie.