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How to drill your own water well

drillyourownwell.com

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Re: How to drill your own water well

#81

Post by h2odragon »

irrational wrote: post #79
h2odragon wrote: post #9

"Mother Earth News" is a good resource: (1984) https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/d... > Some people ... got their rig stuck three different times in their first well! As they wrote, “We recognize that many of our problems are due to our inexperience …. But our inexperience is not much different from yours.” They have many other articles on the subject; but I'm fond of linking to this one in p…

> Orville and Dot Synoground of Pine Mountain, Georgia, drilled through 35 feet of solid granite with a Hydra-Drill and a diamond coring bit. They hit the rock layer at 18 feet and kept drilling — cutting about six inches of granite an hour — until they broke through. After three solid weeks of work, Orville and Dot struck water at 165 feet. I honestly don’t think I’d have that level of determination unless I was tru…

we were "back to the land" hippies (and had the monthly newspaper targeted toward people like us)... "self reliance" was a goal for many, as well as "can't afford to pay professionals to do it."

Re: How to drill your own water well

#82

Post by h2odragon »

dalke wrote: post #12

I don't think it would be worthwhile to make your own hydraulic drill if there are rental alternatives. More specifically, around 1981 my Dad rented a drilling rig to supply the irrigation pump for our yard in Miami. See, the city was phasing out septic systems, and had installed sewers to our neighborhood. They charged for sewer based on water consumed. By drilling a well he could avoid paying sewage fees for irriga…

Yeah, well, Florida. You don't need much to hit water table in FL. High heels will sometimes do.

Re: How to drill your own water well

#83

Post by praptak »

b112 wrote: post #64
jeffrallen wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first week I came to live in Guatemala from the USA 3 brothers from a nearby village dies of asphyxiation at the bottom of a hand dug well which had a generator running too close up above. Don't risk it. Confined spaces are dangerous.

This is terrible, but the same thing can happen in a basement, and even has happened in low laying areas of land. Would you suggest we stop digging basements? There are far more issues with just walking outside, lightning strikes hitting people, are more common.

The biggest risk of construction comes from handling the concrete rings. I haven't heard of a suffocation accident. These are much more common when people maintain their sanitation tanks.

Re: How to drill your own water well

#84

Post by boppo1 »

yarpen_z wrote: post #70
jcarrano wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It still makes sense to have a well because it is a waste to water the lawn with drinking water.

We don't really have suburbs like the one in the US. Having a perfect lawn that requires constant watering and meticulous care is not common.

What is the landscaping around single family homes like then? Or do you just have urban & rural without an in-between?

Re: How to drill your own water well

#86

Post by momirlan »

OfSanguineFire wrote: post #56
praptak wrote: post #41

In Poland it's quite common for people to just hand dig their wells, using concrete rings for the reinforcement of walls. It's legal up to 30 meters depth and up to 5 m^3/day water yield. Article (in Polish but there's pics): https://darmowyporadnik.pl/artykul/36/budownictwo/kopanie-st... Edit: Or maybe I should say "it was" - most new wells are just a vertical steel pipe with a submerged electric pump rather than bi…

With the recent legislation that every Polish village has to be connected to water and sewage even if the homeowner wanted to remain off-grid, I would expect not expect well-digging to remain popular.

you also have to consider the price to pay for metered municipal water. i would still prefer free water from my own dug well.

Re: How to drill your own water well

#87

Post by jeffrallen »

b112 wrote: post #64
jeffrallen wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first week I came to live in Guatemala from the USA 3 brothers from a nearby village dies of asphyxiation at the bottom of a hand dug well which had a generator running too close up above. Don't risk it. Confined spaces are dangerous.

This is terrible, but the same thing can happen in a basement, and even has happened in low laying areas of land. Would you suggest we stop digging basements? There are far more issues with just walking outside, lightning strikes hitting people, are more common.

I'm going to declare a new law, a la Bettredge's Law: "When a small probability is claimed, without evidence, to be less than that of death by lightening strikes, it is safe to assume the small probability is in fact higher than the risk of death by lightening strikes".

Find me the evidence and I'll admit that my new law is invalid. :)

Re: How to drill your own water well

#88

Post by OfSanguineFire »

momirlan wrote: post #86
OfSanguineFire wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With the recent legislation that every Polish village has to be connected to water and sewage even if the homeowner wanted to remain off-grid, I would expect not expect well-digging to remain popular.

you also have to consider the price to pay for metered municipal water. i would still prefer free water from my own dug well.

I did consider that price: it is negligible in Poland. The now-obligatory water and sewage connection in all villages brings service fees that people sometimes grumble about, but water itself doesn’t cost very much.

Re: How to drill your own water well

#89

Post by NotYourLawyer »

thih9 wrote: post #22

Is this for drinking water? And what depths can be reached with this method? I wish these were stated more clearly; I’m guessing “not drinking”, based on: > It is great for saving money on watering your lawn and irrigating a garden. Off topic: as a non native English speaker, the title made me pause. As in, why would I want to drill my water and do it well?… oh, water well, right.

No, the website says this is generally non potable water.

Re: How to drill your own water well

#90

Post by RajT88 »

The house I live in has a well. 400 feet deep (why? long story).

The thing to be aware of is that there's a few different kinds of additives you might need for well water.

The most usual is water softener. Ours isn't too hard, but what we do have is hydrogen sulphate from bacteria in the soil - it requires hydrogen peroxide to make the water smell neutral and palatable.

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