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How to drill your own water well

drillyourownwell.com

101–110 of 233 posts

Re: How to drill your own water well

#101
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.

Yes. Isn't that the point of the web site?

When the water table is shallow, but deeper than your Louboutins - which is much of Florida - you can drill a well yourself, at low cost.

After all, the technique only works for down to about 20 feet (there's another page on how to extend that to 30 feet), and 7 of the 26 listed success stories are from Florida.

Re: How to drill your own water well

#102

> Many folks think they have to dig or drill their well into an aquifer. My concern here is ground water will have septic contamination, don't know if that's stupid or not. Hand dug wells are fun to watch on TikTok, most on the tag are old ones, but a few are people digging them - https://www.tiktok.com/tag/handdug%20well This one scared the shit out of me - https://www.tiktok.com/@smithalayamrajeev/video/72399975850…

Fortunately most dirt is an excellent filter for septic waste. The law requires 40 (double check this number for where you live) of distance between a septic system and a well because at that distance the water that gets through is safe to drink without any more treatment. It doesn't matter how bad your septic system is installed, the 40 feet distance makes it safe.

Note that I said most dirt above. There are types of soil that act more like pipes and so raw sewage from a leaking septic system has been found many miles away. Check with a local expert to see what soil you have to deal with.

Re: How to drill your own water well

#103

"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…

Thanks for posting this; I have Georgia granite under my feet in random and unpredictable quantities. I've noticed most of the "success stories" in the submitted article happen to be in sandy areas, or with softer ground.

Re: How to drill your own water well

#104

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 could bypass that with a domestic wastewater treatment plant.

That does not appear to be the case. A friend of mine spent a considerable amount of money a few years ago to build a wastewater treatment system on his property. Then the gmina told him that, under new legislation, he would still have to connect his property to the common sewage system. This is something that he and many of his neighbours were reluctant to do, because it brings new monthly service charges. He tried to argue his case and managed to stall for several months, but eventually he was forced to do so lest he be fined.

I have heard villagers in Spain and Italy complaining about the same thing, so I assumed there was a new loi communitaire.

Re: How to drill your own water well

#105
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Google Street View will let you look at plenty of Polish homes.

Re: How to drill your own water well

#107
post #54

I wondered how getting a permit in Switzerland would work. According to some sources I found: - You need to request a permit from your city and your canton's water and sewage department - To get a permit, you need a "proof of utility", so you can't just dig a well for fun, it needs to bring some benefit. - You need a written technical planning document as well, including an analysis on the energy- and cost-efficiency…

Just do it. Live a little.

Digging a well after dark also adds to the experience.

Re: How to drill your own water well

#108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

It is not as common to water one’s lawn in Poland. It’s not like the country doesn’t get enough rain, and most villagers don’t feel the need to show off perfect lawns to their neighbors as e.g. in the USA.

Don’t water the lawn (or fertilise or roundup etc.) in Australia: for some reason it stays green without it: buffalo grass is as tough as nails! Sometimes it goes yellow but it always comes back!

Re: How to drill your own water well

#109
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you read the article? The method uses no gasoline, oil or chemicals.

I did, but accidents happen, those are usually farmers and aren’t trained engineers with all safety measures, someone could have an oil tank nearby and someone/car bump into it or similar scenarios.

So the concern is that a farmer will drill the well, pull up the drill head, then accidentally spill a tank of oil then the oil will go down the hole and... contaminate the hole?

Re: How to drill your own water well

#110
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Trees, hedges, native grasses and shrubs: the kinds of plant you'd probably consider "weeds" in US suburbia. Within cities, there's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraced_house, and there are villages in amongst the fields and forests of rural areas.

Places like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gaeltacht_Park,_Whitehall... are the closest I've really seen to US suburbia, and it's always been within walking distance of a food shop.

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