My Industrial Cabin Build

[EddieWalker]

Here’s something to give you guys a laugh. I had my well drilled about 3 years ago. I need tonlook at the paperwork when I get home. I believe it was about 230 feet before hitting water. I the cap today to see what kind of adapter was needed to wire up the well pump and connect the line.
Uhh. Apparently that was not included. The pipe is empty. I don’t have a line or pump or anything.
I feel a little silly.
I could have sworn the guy who drilled it mentioned running a temporary electric line to it if I wanted. I guess he meant putting in the pump also.

How did he measure how much flow you are getting out of the well without a pump in the well? Did he put it in and then take it out? Have you been robbed? It's kind of hard to comprehend that they just left the well empty. Getting that pump into the well with all the pipe and wiring is a big job!!!!

 

[WoodChuckDad]

Well, I just finished my 4th coat of polish on the floors.
I pulled up the contract for the well on my phone. Did not include a pump. I will be checking my receipt at home for the exact depth.
It was $18/foot plus $350 for grout plus$45 for a well cap.
If memory serves we went 238 feet before hitting water and it delivered 30gal/min.
Looks like I have another project on my hands. I also noticed that this well cap isnt closed. There is a female threaded inlet under the cap. My first picture I can find of the well is April 2018 and it looks pretty much the same. I did not look under like this.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

That’s typical here, a “buildable lot” has to have a well and valid perk. “Land” for sale does not.
The well will not have a pump unless you include that in the job.
I installed my own pump in my 200 ft well. Lot easier putting it in than taking it out, which I’ve done twice.
Dig down about 3’ along the side of the casing where you want the line to come out. Install a pitless adapter in the side of the casing from the inside. Make a 4 ft long tee with 1” pipe to install the adapter.
Once you have that installed, pull the adapter, the well pipe hangs from it. I used 1” black poly pipe, leave the pump about 20 ft off the bottom to avoid sediment. Use stainless adapters. Use 3conductor wire rated for water (plumbing supply house has it) it needs to go to top of casing. Put the pump starter capacitor in the house, which is why you use 3/c wire.
When you put pipe from house to well, put 3/c electric wire with it. Water line from house connects to outside of pitless adapter. Electric wire comes up along side the casing and will connect thru the well cap. Sleeve electric wire from cap into ground with conduit piece.

Or hire a plumber, they do this all the time.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

Thanks Buckeye. That explains all the steps very well.
When I got home tonight I pulled the file on the well. 210 feet.
0-65 feet is 10 inch pvc
65-210 is 6 inch.
This will be an adventure.
I am about to go into Lowes for pex fittings. I will price the pump and pitless adapters etc.

 

[gary49]

How did he measure how much flow you are getting out of the well without a pump in the well? Did he put it in and then take it out? Have you been robbed? It's kind of hard to comprehend that they just left the well empty. Getting that pump into the well with all the pipe and wiring is a big job!!!!

The flow is measured while the drill rig is drilling the well. It’s done by making a temporary dam to collect the water that compressed air is pushing out the top of the casing. Make an outlet in the dam with a piece of pipe and time how long it takes to fill a container, such as a 5 gallon bucket. One minute to fill bucket=5/gpm well output. It’s admittedly a fairly crude measurement, but that’s how it‘s done. You can hire a hydrologist with the right equipment and run a long term test measuring the output and the water level, but that will cost you.

 

[gary49]

Thanks Buckeye. That explains all the steps very well.
When I got home tonight I pulled the file on the well. 210 feet.
0-65 feet is 10 inch pvc
65-210 is 6 inch.
This will be an adventure.
I am about to go into Lowes for pex fittings. I will price the pump and pitless adapters etc.

That casing appears to be 6” PVC. The 10” probably refers to the hole they drilled to drop the casing in to where they hit bedrock. Once they hit bedrock the well is drilled in solid rock, no casing. That’s the way it works with the local geology east of the Blue Ridge Mountains where you are in Free Union. If you were in the Shenandoah Valley it would be a different story, bedrock is roughly 1000’ down there. Black poly pipe is a better choice than Pex for your drop pipe, use 250 psi, they made the wall thickness of poly pipe thinner a couple of years ago and the lighter pipe tends to crimp. Pump choice has more to it than meets the eye, the higher gpm the pump is for a given horsepower the cheaper it is since the fewer stages the pump has the less pressure it can build. A 1/2 hp 10 gpm pump might be ok for a well that 100‘ deep, but you’ll need a 1/2 hp 5 gpm pump for a 200’ well. You’ll want to know how many gpm your well puts out and total head pressure to choose the pump. You’ll want to set the pump 15’ or so off the bottom of the well. I’d use a two wire pump in your situation where the pump will be 195’ down, it’s not that terrible to pull a pump up by hand from that depth. The 3 wire pumps have the relay and capacitor in a box near the pressure switch so you can replace some parts without pulling the pump, but my experience is it doesn’t help often enough to justify the extra wire and expense. On a deeper well, it makes more sense. If you were generally happy with your driller, it’s worth considering having him install the pump, pressure tank and associated pipe and cable, he has the equipment to get it done quickly and you no doubt have plenty of other things on your plate. If you do it yourself, I wouldn’t buy the materials from Lowe’s, Driller’s Service out in Zion’s Crossroads will have everything needed and they have people who know what they’re selling—Lowe’s, not so much.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I only use Gould pumps. Get the heavy psi poly. All my pump, pipe, etc came from Nolands, which I believe they have down your way.
Will have to heat shrink the electrical connection at the pump. The have torque arresters you can put on the pipe to prevent wear from rubbing the side of the well. I’ve had to pull mine twice, 1st time electric wire rubbed on side of well , 2nd time had a hole in the pipe about 10 ft above the pump. That time I pulled it and my neighbor (a plumber) fixed it and put it back while I was at work. He helped me do the initial install also, and once replaced my pressure tank.
I really recommend the starter in the house. I had to replace mine once, nice changing it on the wall in the basement instead of pulling the pump.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Grundfos... best well pump in the business. You only want to do it once...

 

[747driver]

This is a big bummer for you ! Have you contacted the well driller ? I would contact them and see what they advise since it has been 3 years and nothing done on the well. They might want to come out and see if the well is still good at 218 ft ? The water level could have dropped in that amount time exposing more sediment and will be needed to drill deeper ? Just some things i have read about that happens when a well is not used for a long period of time.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Grundfos... best well pump in the business. You only want to do it once...

Have used them elsewhere but not in a well. also a good pump.

 

[Xfaxman]

WCD, since you will be using a lot of water for plants and trees, check into a cycle stop valve for the well: Cycle Stop Valves, Inc

 

[Carl_NH]

Well that stinks that your driller didn't include the pump in the deal, but the devils in the detail as always.

As Gary49 have said, Goulds and Grundfos are top of the line pumps, and for your depth and flow 30 GPM, and then your planned usage (orchard, house, etc) look for for the number of stages in the pump, not the GPM.

There are 2 wire pumps - with the start controls in the pump, or 3 wire pumps that the starter control box top side. I have done both, and it used to be the 3 wire were more reliable due the starting caps and controls in 70's to 80's would be the first point of failure, but with todays electronics either one will serve you well.

Here is a site I have bought from that will give you a good idea of the components and cost. You are being redirected...

The Goulds GS7GS07 is 3/4 HP, 7 GPM, at 160' static water level at 60PSI, the equivalent Grundfos pump is a 7S715 which is a 7 GPM 3/4 HP 15 stage 4" all SST pump.

Last as other have said if you install your self, make sure you tape the wires every 6-8' and install a torque arrestor above the pump and maybe a second one at 100' just to keep the wires from getting worn - there are white spacers you can use too.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Have used them elsewhere but not in a well. also a good pump.

My well driller swears by them. Said he got tired of pulling up other pumps...

 

[gary49]

Here in central Virginia, it’s commonplace for the well and the pump package to be separate items in the contract, I haven’t run across any drillers who automatically include the pump package. I’m a little surprised you haven’t needed to get the water system operating before now in the construction process, it’s mighty convenient to have running water on the job site.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Here in central Virginia, it’s commonplace for the well and the pump package to be separate items in the contract, I haven’t run across any drillers who automatically include the pump package. I’m a little surprised you haven’t needed to get the water system operating before now in the construction process, it’s mighty convenient to have running water on the job site.

My well included the electric run, pump, pipe, pressure tank and two yard hydrants... Explains why a 650ft well cost 13K...

 

[WoodChuckDad]

Thank you everyone for all the great information. Gary, we live in Free Union but the Build is in White Hall. Bedrock depth was 55 feet. I will be checking those pumps and the suppliers mentioned.
Stepponwolfe,the price you paid for that well was right in line with the price per foot that I paid plus other materials.
My neighbor mentioned earlier this year that they were going to have another well drilled because theirs had stopped producing water. She was asking about ours and I got the feeling she was blaming me. Maybe she thinks I used up all the water in my well.
I dont plan on using this well for any of our apple trees. I plan on putting in some tanks to harvest rainwater off the roof of our house and our barn. Those will be used for
Plants, etc.
Since it was mentioned, is there any reasonable way for me to find out what the water level is without calling a my well driller back. When I called him about 2 months ago to ask about what size line to run to the house he wasn’t exactly friendly.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Almost 40 years ago, I did a physics paper for a complex formula, dropping a stone in a well, and timing the time it took until you heard the splash. It was more involved than you would at first think.....that paper might could be in my mom's junk closet....

 

[WoodChuckDad]

Almost 40 years ago, I did a physics paper for a complex formula, dropping a stone in a well, and timing the time it took until you heard the splash. It was more involved than you would at first think.....that paper might could be in my mom's junk closet....

I was hoping more along the lines of lowering something down. I have a 300 foot tape that I could put a weight on but I’m not sure how I would know when it hit water. I could put a float above the weight I guess.

 

[Carl_NH]

I was hoping more along the lines of lowering something down. I have a 300 foot tape that I could put a weight on but I’m not sure how I would know when it hit water. I could put a float above the weight I guess.

Drop an ice cube as I recall it’s 40’ per second roughly.

Or tie a wrench or nut to a string or your tape and drop till it hits water.

1” 250 psi poly pipe in the well and to the house is most commonly used.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

After reading thru this info and then researching some more online, it’s as clear as mud. The poly lines from lowes are only 160 psi so I need the 250 psi poly line.
I have evolved to the “Buy once, Cry once “ philosophy on things like the pump. The Grundfos and Gould pumps are twice the cost of the Zoeller at Lowes. But I saw some Zoeller on line that were also twice the cost of Lowes, for the same model number pump.
Looking at the Gould and Grundfos pumps online
The questions I am left with are
115 vs 200. Assuming 200 is better
Hp rating
Stages. - multi stage is multiple impeller?
3 inch vs 4 inch.
Gpm.

Back in 2018 when I had it drilled (Feb I believe). I talked to the driller and he said it would be $400 to run the line from well to the house. I don’t know if that was just labor or included the line. I don’t remember anything about the pump being discussed. I’s live to hit the easy button and have someone else donit but I am guessing I would be looking at $1,000 in labor costs and markup.
Also, i need to install two frost proof yard hydrants. Doing this myself is a pain but it also means I know how to fix it later on if something goes south.

I was planning on running the poly line and having it layed out place when the electric trench is dug, so that I can join up to that trench halfway to the house and drop it in the same hole.

Looking at the well report filed with health dept,
Well depth 210 feet
Borehole depth 65 feet
Depth to bedrock 55 feet
Hole size 10 inches 0-65 feet
6 inches 65-210 feet
Casing size 6 1/4 inch from +2 to 65
Material PVC SDR 27.6
Water zones from 130-132. 143-145

Pump test
Static water level 30 feet
Flow rate 30gpm

Drillers log

I’ll probably take this info with me to one of the recommended stores here and talk to them to get what I need to do this. Not happening today so I still have time to drive myself crazy with research.
Today I am running some more pex in the house.