Here I am

We have a well!!!

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embarrassing

Is this a record?

After what seems like a lifetime(maybe because it has been) I finally have my mountain property and a well!Sometime dreams do come true. . With a whole lot of work and waiting... Next is a septic tank. It is nice to be able to finally see our rewards.





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Awesome Champ! My wife and I went through the same thing when we purchased our 10 acres (raw property) in early 1994. I worked a MASSIVE amount of weekend O/T to pay for all excavation clearing/grading) and the well (including all peripherals) etc. so when it came time to get a loan from the bank for the construction of our house (mid 1995), we had MAX equity in our property (including the sizable down payment we had made). That was a great feeling! :)



I took the day off the day they started drilling the well... the first 20-30' went well (no pun intended. . but what the he!!) however, the sandstone we have "above the plateau" in Enumclaw made it very difficult to make good time. It didn't really help much that we are located on top of one of the substantial foothills out here... I fearfully added it up in my head as they kept adding another extension (@ $23. per foot) $ :eek: :eek: $ and more $ All in all, they had to go down to 205' Oh well, it's only money. :rolleyes: One thing though, we have about the coldest water there is. . year 'round. :D



BTW, how much are well drillers getting per foot in your location? I had a friend that was retiring and subsequently moving to Idaho at the time I had my well drilled. At about the same time he had his well drilled on his 160 acres however, he was only charged $18. per foot. Ouch! That hurt (me). And here I'd thought I had gotten a great deal at $23. per foot (the going rate was $25. per foot back then).



..... country life, ya can't beat it!
 
CP... Congrats! I wish you much happiness on your property!



I have never had to drill for a well... but I will shortly cause I am buying some property in NE Oregon. Hopefully, I will be there in less than nine years!



John... I can just picture you standing there with dollar signs in your eyes as the added extension after extension!
 
John. . your 205' looks cheep to my 575'. . :D:D

and since then 2 pumps @ 550' and 2 ea 2 1/4" x550' line replacements [all in 10 years] not to mention the 12k worth of treatment equipment that I have to have just to use it. . [and don't drink it as it stinks like iron/sulphur, we use bottled water for drinking].

AHHHH it's worth the 100 mile views and the peace and quiet I have...
 
Lightning Protection on well motor

Man this sounds great. I would almost give my right acorn to have a nice well.

Be sure to install a (MOV) metal oxide varister lightning protection system. What can happen is if the lightning does not zap your motor it can cause pitting(from arking) of the pump bearings causing the bearings to fail weeks or months after the lightning strike. Good luck.

Tim
 
Lance,



Congrads on the well I'm glad to see you finally got one in. Like you I hope to buy some mountain property and live up there after I graduate from college. I hope my dream is fulfilled as yours was. .



Joe,



P. S. Got the truck Amsoiled finally(drivetrain)
 
They first hit water at 50',went down to 180' (for storage). Well is putting out 1 gallon per minute. But,figures about 350 gallons of storage. Charged $3000. 00 deposit witch includes first 60' and caseing,then $17. 00 per foot..... All together going to be in the area of $5000. 00.



Now comes the septic system. I am figureing another $5000. 00.

If I do the digging and install myself. Going with concrete tank and that new Infiltrater system(It does away with gravel bed and perforated pipe). But mo money... ...



Next summer "THE SHOP"!!!!!!!!!!
 
575'? Gary, you're killin' me! :eek: :eek: Are you sure they didn't hit salt water????



Hey Rob, the bad part about it though, once they connect another 20' extension. . you bought the whole nine yards so to speak. . meaning, even if you hit water within the first several feet after adding the new extension you pay for 20'x $whatever per foot. Hoowah! :eek:



Champ, thanks for the stats. At 1 GPM is 350 gallons of storage enough? you may want to check with your insurance company (that's assuming there is no city water in the vicinity thus, no fire hydrants... see what I'm getting at?). In my county, if there is no city water present, your well must produce to a certain level otherwise a DEDICATED storage system must be installed. NOTE: this is ALSO assuming the ingress (road and driveway) to your property is NOT up to stringent county and Fire district codes, which would also necessitate the installation of a sprinkler system thus, the DEDICATED storage tank (for the fire suppression system). :eek: :eek: (which in the case of our county would have to be designed and installed by a State approved/licensed company. $$$$) Fortunately, we just squeeked through the system unscathed. :)



Unfortunately, the septic system that was designed for our property was the absolute state of the art... septic tank, pump tank, sand filter (in ground mound) and finally, a full blown mound system. The real unfortunate part was the cost :eek: :eek: about $20k including design, as built fees, health permit, recording fees, variance mitigation and of course, the construction of the project. Certified sand (with a documentable paper trail was required for this project). He!!, the way things were going I thought they were going to tell me they had to fly sand in from the Kona coast. . first class under armed guard no less! :rolleyes: Two pumps and and a "mile" of wiring later, it was complete! I was told by the septic system designer and health inspector that once the effluent was processed through the entire system we have it is just about drinkable. BTW, the reason for the elaborate septic system is due to the sandstone out where we live. Here's the real bite, my neighbor two properties away lives down, almost on the plateau "valley floor"; they were able to have a reasonably simple pressure feed system installed... around $3500. (installed about 9-12 months before our system was installed). This was due to soil conditions etc. Don't ya just love it?



..... builds character
 
John,Sounds like they have you folks over the barrel(so to speak). No one has a fire system in my area. Insurance will be a bugga boo,high cost. However I am looking at rammed earth,concrete,adobe,type homes,with metal roofing. Some people in my area have 500'wells and . 5 per. The local association has no minimum on water storage and well drillers(state and county licensed)say plenty good for this area. This is a very rural area(24 miles from nearest town,9miles from a store). I am clearing dead growth(which is no easy task,lotsa firewood) and building fire breaks(not visable unless looking for them).



Neighbor and I have our eyes on an old GMC fire truck and a tanker for the area. Might start our own fire station,we can pull the water tank with my Dodge. No,the tank would always get there first!



Heres a veiw of the Sangres from the future homesite,most of the growth is gone now.



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Our septic rules and regs are pretty lax,anyone can install and all you have to do is have the county health dept come look at it before you backfill.
 
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John. . no salt but got close to HELLL ... lol. . but the worst looking red slurry [water] you can imagine. . hence the 12k of treatment equipment I have. . have to clean the filters every two weeks in the summer watering season. . 1 month during winter...



CF. . might I suggest a 4500 gal. polly storage tank or something near that size, [prefilled via a water tanker v/s the 1 gal. min. well] well worth the expense. . they are available at any well supplier or ag supplier. . fit it with valves that match the fire depts. lines with quick caps at the outlet. . [for later use as a fire system]

the fire dept will open the top and suck the water out to refil the tanker truck, the fire dept can do a lot with that much water . . but you can make up a fire system from it as well as have plenty of storage for home use. . not that bad in price IMHO
 
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Our well is only 36' deep and has great tasting water :) Our neighbor went down over a 100' and has more water than we do, but their water has sulfur or something in it and they don't drink it.



The bad part on having a shallow well like ours is that we worry about water contamination. So far all of the water tests have been great, but we're careful to not use chemicals or toxic stuff anywhere near the pumphouse.
 
Water knowledge

C. F

The one gallon per minute(gpm) should improve as the vanes of water going to your well open up. Useing as much water as you can will help speed this up. Check with your closest neighbors about their output in gpm but,remember to ask their depth also. I have been working at a water plant 21 years 5 months 16 days so if I can help let me know.
 
I thank you all for your tips and advice. When I get the house built I will invite all for a potluck dinner and get together.



Iron trader,we had a well that was only 18' up in Wetmore Colo. It never ran dry and was the sweetest,coldest water in the area. It helps to tap into a underground spring... ... . Good witcher!



How many of you believe in Dousing?
 
:cool: Champane flight, congrats on the h2o,you are doing great so far,I was the construction business for years and I can tell you that you are right on witn the concrete septic tank and infiltrator system,never put in a plastic tank as it will colapse on you,you must fill it with h2o before backfilling the dirt:confused: what does that tell you,a little flimsey eh? the only other thing I can suggest is buying risors for the top of the tank,the company that sells the tank will have them,they are 16" round and come in various lengths,simply pull the lids off the tank and add the risors then put your lids on the risors,then when time to call the honey wagon for a pump job you just pull the lids with no digging :cool: they only cost like 18 bucks and well worth it.

also on the infiltrators they are the best , you cant go wrong,good luck my friend,

Kevin
 
CP and John,

You guys are going to be sick when you hear this one. When we bought our 17 acres in Maryland back in '84, the well went a total of 68' before the driller had to stop because so much water was blowing up out of the well. Over 50 GPM. I think it cost me less than $900. They got me back a few years ago when I cut 5 acres off the back. Had to go 475' on that one. 13 GPM. About $5000. As you can see the rate around here is about half of what your paying. I'd trade places w/ you in a second though. Love it out west. Just can't get the wife to move. Oh well, could be worse.

Tom
 
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I am not sure what it is like in your area, but if you need lots of water storage capacity, look into old gas station tanks. A guy in Granbury TX quoted me $1500 for a 12,000 gallon tank. He said if we wanted to use it for potable water, it would need to be painted inside with (epoxy?) paint.



I hope to do so one day soon.
 
Do well drillers charge a different rate for earth than blasting? I never had a well drilled (house has one, but it's polluted) but my parents had one put in our vacation house way back in 1975. As I remember it, they got charged more for blasting through rock. 6" casing, and over 200' deep. If memory serves me, it was around $1200. 00.

Before that well, we had a dug well. It was OK except for long hot periods. Also, it bothered me a little when I'd look down there and see snakes popping their head out of the stone walls looking back at me. :p

Eric
 
You may want to do a little research in regards to the use of Infiltrators with no rock. Our soil here is clay and has been know to clog the slots in the Infiltrators. Our county inspector says the only septic failures he has seen in newer installations were all Infiltrator systems with no rock. Our current system is Infiltrators with no rock, but is just a temporary as we are in the progress of putting a new double wide on a basement a few hundred feet away. It will have it's own field, but our contractor will not use Infiltrators (He's a firm believer in the traditional perforated pipe/rock system for our area)

We've had no problem with our system, but in a few months it will only be used for my new work shop. (can't wait! an indoor place to tinker!) Infiltrators are probably fine in most soils, but just thought I'd pass along what I have heard.

We also had a well drilled and it's 628' deep at $12/foot cased.
 
From what I have heard and read on the subject of septics the Infiltrater is the best. The last guy I talked to installs both and prefers the Infiltrater. He says that in clay type soils he puts gravel around the Infiltrater and has had no problems in over 100 installs. There is more storage for effluents with the Infiltrator.



I don't think we will have any problems with our soil as it is very sandy,with some rock. And I have already decided to put as many inspection and access points as I possibly can. I am going to do the install myself. Does anyone know the average price of a 1500 gal concrete tank?Haven't called the precast outfit yet.
 
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