I realize this might end up being a little IMHO, and I don’t want to discourage answers from those with personal experience, but I’m putting this in GQ because I’m really looking for a factual answer. Mods, please move if necessary, with my apologies.
My sister and BIL and considering building a new house outside the municipal water system. They have been told by the builder that for a particular lot they really like, they would have to be on their own well and that well would have to be sunk to about 500 feet or more.
None of us have been on wells before. Is there anything problematic with having to have a deep well? Any reason that would raise a red flag for long-term residential use for a family of five? Would it make any difference if they wanted to put in a pool later?
Problem #1. You have to do your own testing; no municipal water department to do it for you, or to treat the resultant problems. Contaminants in well water.
Drillers charge by the foot. The deeper the well, the more expensive to drill it and install the pump. Where I live, the aquifer has several layers of water-bearing soil, separated by layers of clay. Different layers can have drastically different water quality. At my parents old house, in general, deeper wells had better water. The geology of your area may be drastically different. Consult with a geologist or a hydrologist.
It depends on the quality of the water you get out of the well. Might be a red flag, might be a green flag.
It depends on how water rights work in your state. Some states will let you pump all the water you want out of a well. Other states treat water as a community resource, and allot you a certain number of acre-feet per year, depending on how you are zoned. In my state, an agricultural allottment would give you plenty of water for a pool. A single-family-residential allottment might not.
There should be a local or state agency that has well logs. It could be the local health department, the state department of the environment or natural resources, or the state geological survey. Well logs should give you an idea of how other wells in the vicinity are constructed. They may (should) have information on the water quality of the local aquifers. They should also have information on what testing is required.
One problem with wells in densely populated areas with on-site wells and septic systems is a high concentration of nitrogen.
Deep wells generally are bedrock wells unless you are on the coastal plain somewhere. In my experience the coastal plain aquifers have a high mineral and sulfer content which makes the water smell and taste bad. Perfectly fine to drink however.
Bedrock wells usually do not produce a lot of water. They produce enough for The well is dependent on hitting water bearing fractures in the rock. Some rock wells will also have a high mineral content, but again that is dependent on local conditions.
As far as pool water goes - most domestic wells do not produce enough water to fill a swimming pool. Fortunately there are many companies that will fill your swimming pool for a nominal fee. The pool supplier or the yellow pages will help you locate a company.
This probably won’t be helpful, but growing up, I was always told that the deep wells were the best wells. We had a shallow well (only house on the block not on city water), and it was nasty, stinky, unpalatable, and stained everything. The cause was always attributed to it being a “shallow well.”
You could also be one of the house owner’s that never strike water. It does happen. Deep wells will require more expense to pump out the water. In the area north of Milwaukee going to Green Bay the pumping down of the aquifer exposes minerals to oxygen which leads to arsenic contamination. The developments that have occurred over the years all have private wells. The owners now have to keep digging deeper than the other houses to get water, and much of it is contaminated. The area has water all around and none to waste. You may find the expense of a private well is burdensome.
It probably has more to do with location than the depth of the well. The one at my parents’ house is only about 8’ deep, but we’ve never had major problems with it. At their business though, they drilled a 300ft well, and that’s the only time I’ve ever known ‘fresh’ water to have a smell.
In a nearby town about half the houses have manganese in the water, and the others have good water. Sometimes the the water is black from the manganese and it smells and tastes horrible way before you see the black. All the wells go down to about the same depth.
The problems with shallow and deep wells are basically the same – pollutants in the water. Deep wells, however, are recharged from more distant sources, typically in the mountains. And any aquifer is a natural filtration mechanism, meaning that in most cases a deep well’s water has been purified by passage through many miles of porous rock or sand before being tapped into.
Are sister and BIL local? If so:
DENR’s Bureau of Water will have the answers you’re looking for, and is a local call for either of us.
Also, I know of two reputable well-drilling firms, one only a few miles from where you work and the other just across a county line from there. If you wish to go PM I’ll provide info. on them.
Your sister & BIL should talk to the local well driller(s).They always seem to know their territory and could likely venture helpful info over the phone.
Any water drawn from a well should be tested;almost all can be treated with a home system,once you know what you’re treating for.
For deep wells specifically,some of the cons are per foot drill and casing cost (though codes differ on at what depth the casing stops),greater horsepower pump to extract the water,and more labour for pulling the pump/foot valve out of the hole upon demise.
Some pros,greater reservoir (which probably still wouldn’t enable straightforward pool filling),and the possibility of tapping a more reliable aquifer.
Initial cost for a deep well is huge. My well is 600’ deep, and cost over $11K. Quality varies by local geology. If it was once a seafloor, you’ll have lots of sulfur + hard water. If you’re lucky, you’ll hit an aretesian source and not need a pump. I’d talk to the neighbors and see how good the local water is.
Thank you for the responses! A couple clarifications:
The small subdivision they are looking at has a community well, so they know there’s water there (quality is another question; they haven’t asked yet). They would have to put in their own well due to the size of lot they are looking about (about 2x as big as most of the other lots). Not sure why that makes a difference when the house/ number of residents will be similar to the rest of the subdivision. But anyway, they don’t have to pay for the well; it will be put in by the developer/builder. They are just concerned about cost of maintenance / questions about amount and quality of water.
Polycarp they are NC but not local, but I will pass along your comments. Thank you all for the advice.
I would ask (and keep asking) questions about this. It doesn’t sound sensible.
In general, it is better to be on a community well system than your own well. Basically, more people to share the cost of regular maintenance, annual testing, etc. On your own well, you not only pay the costs of digging it (the developer has that somewhere in the price of that house, you can be sure), but a continuing cost for using it. You should ask for a discount on the house, giving that you will be paying to operate this well for as long as you live there.
Maybe the community well is undersized, and just barely keeping up with the houses on it now, or maybe the developer is just too cheap to run the pipes across the double lot to get to this house. Whatever. But you should get a better explanation from him while you still have leverage – while he’s still trying to get you to buy the house.
Well, wells are very expensive and there is no guarantee you’ll tap into a reliable water supply. I was faced with the very same problem 18 years ago.
The 2 acre lot that I could afford and wanted was outside the municipal water supply. While I had a month to remove conditions on my offer, I consulted with two neighbours on either side who each were on a well and we agreed to share the cost of the city to extend the water main 1000 feet, and I saved a lot of money. In addition, I later found out that I made a significant saving on annual house insurance cost since the city installed a fire hydrant at the end of the extension.
[QUOTE=Jodi]
They are just concerned about cost of maintenance / questions about amount and quality of water.
Anecdotal numbers:in twenty years on this well,I'm on the second submersible,1/2 HP. Top of my head,$350.00 each.I do my own replacement,but plumbers charge around $800 to pull the old and install their new pump.
Treatment here is simple,acid neutraliser and several cartridge filters,maybe $100 per annum.
Water test every year,(potability only,no specifics) about $60.
Bladder tanks last about five years,the size I use is around $150.
I’ve never calculated electrical costs.In an optimal system the pump doesn’t start frequently if the drawdown is suited to tank and usage, so it would seem minimal in my case.That prolongs pump life too.
