Well question

[supton]

So at my house I have two wells: a drill well that is used for everything, and a dug (?) well that... I'm not sure what it is for. It appears to plumbed to an indoor pump & tank and was plumbed to the outdoor spigots, but whoever put it in used CPVC and the piping broke off the pump and it appears to be unused for quite some time. For the last year I've been content to ignore it, until the wife was walking by it, and scared a chipmunk into it... and heard a splash... I don't think you can see it in the photos, but there are like 4 indents around the cylinder, like for getting one's hands under the lid to pull it off. Which make for nice openings for critters to crawl in.

I'm not sure what has crawled into this over the years, so I don't think it's worth opening up and fishing anything out--the wife slid the cover a bit and thought she saw a snake 6-8 feet down, and I'm just not sure it's worth the effort to clean. With that said, is there any value in sealing off the hand holds so that nothing else drops in? Expanding foam maybe? Or is there some good reason for not blocking those holes off?

It might be nice some day to use this other well for the sprinkler system, reduce the load on the main well. That's not on my to-do list for a few years though.

 

[Donald]

If a young child could move the cover off and fall in then I would do something to secure the cover. Else leave it be.

 

[4WD]

Maybe some metal or composite edging could be modified to fit tight around the diameter …

 

[cdlamb]

looks more like a cistern or septic tank than a well.

usually older large bore wells were cased with a galvanized metal casing (similar to culverts) or wood if much older.

are you able to pull the lid off and drop a weighted rope to find how deep it is?

 

[Gebo]

I'd seal the holes. Or consider just filling it up and sealing it off. If you are like me, that would be hard because, one day....you may use it.

But, in reality, do you think you will ever use it? I wouldn't want dead animals rotting in my well water that was anywhere near my other well.
Would cross contamination be an issue?

I don't have a well so I have limited knowledge.

 

[Donald]

This is a very deep subject.

 

[Gebo]

Originally Posted by Donald
This is a very deep subject.


Did you just wake up? You rascal..

 

[krismoriah72]

I have a hand dug and hand stoned well right next to my house. It served families for 100 years until i took over and plumbed in city water.

I built a well house ( old timey looking) and that protects it from critters/humans from falling in.. plus it adds value to my property. I plan on dropping a submersible pump and watering the garden/flowers with it at some point. Which will also add value.


Run the idea past the wife.. I also have hummingbird feeders under the eves of my primitive well house as well as flowers around the base.. its more appealing than the concrete cover you have now.

This is sort of what mine looks like except I used old tin roofing and oak..

 

[Donald]

As another post pointed out, this could be a cover to a part of your septic. How far away is your septic from this cover? When you get septic pumped (which should be every 3 to 5 years) ask the guy who pumps it what he thinks it is?

 

[Gebo]

Originally Posted by krismoriah72
I have a hand dug and hand stoned well right next to my house. It served families for 100 years until i took over and plumbed in city water.

I built a well house ( old timey looking) and that protects it from critters/humans from falling in.. plus it adds value to my property. I plan on dropping a submersible pump and watering the garden/flowers with it at some point. Which will also add value.


Run the idea past the wife.. I also have hummingbird feeders under the eves of my primitive well house as well as flowers around the base.. its more appealing than the concrete cover you have now.

This is sort of what mine looks like except I used old tin roofing and oak..

Now this is super cool. Great idea! If you can afford it, at least consider it.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Hey those are great for watering the garden and "lawn" if you have one.

I would get it functional.

Put one of those little "Houses" over it.

And definitely put a little ladder down there so critters can climb out ( like a small branch. )

Did you get the Chipmunk out? I dont like chipmunks particularly
as they have done a job on my foundation and undermined my driveway

But I count not stand by and wait when a animal was drowning.

Remember, "We all Shine On ... ".

You could be a chipmunk-like animal in 50 years.

but more likely on On Planet Zorkan., not Earth.

The Universe is too vast for us to comprehend in our low, animal minds.

Reincarnation is the only thing that makes sense for us.

Conservation of matter and energy.

Be Well !

- Ken

 

[Gebo]

Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
...

You could be a chipmunk-like animal in 50 years.

but more likely on On Planet Zorkan., not Earth.

The Universe is too vast for us to comprehend in our low, animal minds.

Reincarnation is the only thing that makes sense for us.

Conservation of matter and energy.

Be Well !

- Ken



ARCOgraphite, I am gonna get a new body one day but it won't
be an animal. And there will be a new earth. And reincarnation
makes no sense to me. You must be reading a different book
than I am.

 

[supton]

Septic is on the other side the house. The main well is a good 15-20 feet from this well. House and all that is on it is around 20 years old. Edit: we bought it less than a year ago, and I was here for the inspection, so I know where the septic is.

I haven't tried to lift the cap off, but the wife tried to push it and was able to move it somewhat, enough to be convinced that the water level is 6-8 feet down, and has at least one snake in it. I'm thinking that things may have been falling into it for years, so, there is not much gain from skimming what is off the top--just seal it off and call it a day (the top of the well that is). But you're right, now I am curious about how deep it is.

I talked to a neighbor who is convinced that this is the first house on the plot (and he ought to know as he says he dug the foundation!). So this well is relatively new. I think...

 

[mk378]

That style of casing is used for shallow wells up to about 25 feet deep. They are seldom dug by hand these days, instead a large auger is used.

A pump at ground level with a single pipe can only pull water up about 20 feet-- actually it is atmospheric pressure that pushes the water up.

If all the parts are there and not broken you should be able to reconnect the pipe, prime and start the pump and see what happens.

 

[JTK]

Indeed an unusual cap to that well. Those are typically used for septic risers, etc. like said. I'm assuming it a steel casing the rest of the way down? Could be some handyman special or ancient, so who knows. That concrete looks very old.

I had two abandoned wells on either side of our previous home that were dug in the 1950s. The house was plumbed into city water in the 1980s. I got tired of looking at the protruding casings and mowing around them so I dug around them, borrowed an oxy/acetylene torch to cut the steel casings lower. Put the caps back on them and buried them.

Throw an Amish made decorative well house over it similar to Kris's? Put a flower box over it or a big flower pot?

 

[69GTX]

Looks exactly like my surface well cap, dug out back in 1960. Over time that concrete gets attacked by the weather and slowly crumbles. My cylinder is a little taller though, about 18 inches off the ground. That cover weights a lot. I slide mine to expose the interior. Mine is about 18 ft deep with about 12 ft of water most of the time. We still routinely use it. After 52 yrs (2012) the underground piping failed and a new underground line had to be installed. We switched from a centrifugal pump to a submersible. 8 yrs now and still going strong. We live near a lake and this has never gone dry. One downside being so close to the surface is the pH being rather low in the 5-6 range. Many households use chemicals to raise the pH once inside the home.

 

[Donald]

Another possibility is a drywell. Back in the 1960s my Dad had a dry well installed and the drain water from the washing machine was pushed into the dry well. Not the septic.

 

[doitmyself]

Originally Posted by Donald
Another possibility is a drywell. Back in the 1960s my Dad had a dry well installed and the drain water from the washing machine was pushed into the dry well. Not the septic.


Dang, you beat me to it Donald! It might be a dry well to collect gray water from the house foundation drainage system, laundry, and maybe water softener. Plumbing and pump might be to utilize this water for garden and lawn irrigation (water softener might not work for this unless diluted a lot).

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by doitmyself
Originally Posted by Donald
Another possibility is a drywell. Back in the 1960s my Dad had a dry well installed and the drain water from the washing machine was pushed into the dry well. Not the septic.


Dang, you beat me to it Donald! It might be a dry well to collect gray water from the house foundation drainage system, laundry, and maybe water softener. Plumbing and pump might be to utilize this water for garden and lawn irrigation (water softener might not work for this unless diluted a lot).




I think this might be it as well. If your septic tank is on the small side then it makes even more sense.

I would put a heavier cover on that for safety.

 

[IndyIan]

Short term you could just stuff some fibre glass or roxul insulation in the gaps to keep the critters out. Also do you know how deep the dug part is? If its only 2 or 3 sections there might be a drilled well at the bottom. My parents 50ish year old well has about 10ft of that dug well casing and then the drilled well head at the bottom. I guess they did it that way for frost protection.